Women at WAR
Your mother taught you early in life what women were capable of. Cleaning the house, cooking meals, wrangling children, running errands, helping with homework, knitting scarfs and maybe even finding time to get in a morning run before she went off to her full time job. Lets face the facts, women can get it done.
The Unites States Marine Corp motto of “every Marine a rifleman,” is flexing its full strength. Every Marine participates in and must pass the Marine Combat Training course. Over the course and evolution of the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan female Marines have continuously been attached to combat zone infantry units, and the Army has some too. There are numerous advantages to having females in “hot zones,” of which the most important might be, to respect the culture and honor of the women that are encountered in war zones. In a foreign land where we offer hope of peace and freedom, the customs and traditions must not be defiled or relegated to a lower priority. With women joining the ranks with men on the front line, we can better serve our international allies and their esteemed citizens.
No female soldier wants to die for her country, but there are plenty that are eager to see that those who do harm to others die for their country. Women share the pride that being an American has always brought out. Keeping up with men in the workplace isn’t a new concept, filling in when men are absent is standard operating procedure. In the U.S., men have always gone off to war, but someone still had to build the tanks, bombs, planes, guns and everything else. We should have expected that some day they might just move right up the production line and stand shoulder to shoulder with their equals.
Men, don’t be alarmed. Female police officers are sworn to serve and protect their community; female firefighters are dedicated to risk life and limb for those in need; and female soldiers receive the same training male soldiers do. Deployment readiness is equivalent, training standards and duration never waver and direct orders recognize no gender. In short, women do what men do, and unlike almost every job available outside the military, women are paid the same as men too.
The U.S. Armed Forces allows non-citizens to serve in forward combat zones. LGBT individuals are serving their country with honor. Women have been and will continue to be an integral part of the armed forces. From the front lines to the admin desk, they will be performing the same jobs as men.
Gender is not a determining factor to bullets and bombs. Women in supply and reinforcement units find themselves under fire just like their male counterparts. I doubt a congress full of elected officials has more intelligence on who can and can’t do what jobs, than the sergeants and lieutenants who are experienced in combat zones. I’m not about to tell them to do more with less anymore. They want trained soldiers, sailors and Marines? They can have them, whatever gender, race or sexual orientation they happen to be.
Women are coming home with wounds and medals. Some don’t come home. Women understand the inherent risk that military service entails. They have been sending their sons off to war for centuries, often with the expectation that they might never return. I think it’s time we give them a chance to correct a situation, free those that are oppressed and pave the way for future generations, so that they might not have to lose their future children to the violence of battle. There is no other way to enter the U.S. military other than volunteering, so lets not stand in the way of those women who seek to serve their country in the most honorable, heroic way possible.