Military Jobs For Women Including Some Combat example essay topic

Women in the Military Before World War I, women assisted the military during wartime mainly as nurses and helpers. Some women, however, did become involved in battles. Molly Pitcher, a Revolutionary War water carrier, singlehanded ly kept a cannon in action after a artillery crew had been disabled. During the Revolutionary and the Civil War, a few women disguised themselves as men and took part in hand-to-hand combat. The first enlisted women served in World War I as telephone and radio operators, translators, and clerks. But it was not until World War II that women became part of the regular military.

Each service had its own women's corps commanded by female officers. The first of these units, the Women's Army Corps (Was), enlisted 400,000 women during the war to work in jobs that freed men to fight. Following the war, the Women's Services Integration Act of 1948 established a permanent place for women in all branches of the military. But promotions for female officers were limited, and women were banned from ground combat jobs as well as from most Navy ships and Air Force aircraft. By the mid-1960's, about 70 percent of enlisted women worked in clerical and other office jobs.

The Army and the other services at first resisted sending women to Vietnam fearing that they would not be able to handle the stress of being in a war zone. But 7,500 military women, mainly nurses, eventually served in Vietnam. Several died in hostile action. When the all-volunteer military replaced the draft in 1973, the armed forces accelerated its recruitment of women.

In 1977, a Department of Defense report clearly identified both the limitations and potential of female recruits at that time. The average woman available to be recruited is smaller, weighs less, and is physically weaker than the vast majority of male recruits. She is also much brighter, better educated (a high school graduate), scores higher on the aptitude tests and is much less likely to become a disciplinary problem. As the military modernized and weapons grew more sophisticated, education and technical skills became important. This development opened up more military jobs for women, including some combat-related jobs. For example, women became Army transport helicopter pilots and were assigned to nuclear missile sites.

The rapid increase in military technology as well as changes in the whole concept of modern warfare blurred the old line separating combat from non-combat jobs. When larger numbers of women entered the military in the 1970's, pressure mounted for more female officers. Consequently, college ROTC programs and officer candidate schools became co-ed. In 1976, the first female cadets entered West Point and the other service academies. Soon, female officers began commanding men, a concept that had been ridiculed as unworkable only a short time earlier. During the Gulf War in 1991, about 40,000 women served in the combat zone.

This was the largest such female deployment in U.S. military history. During this short war, five women were killed in action and two taken as prisoners of war. The important contributions made by women in uniform during the Gulf War led to a reevaluation of the combat restrictions on females. Starting in 1993, the bans against women serving aboard Navy warships and flying combat aircraft were lifted.

Today, there is a small but growing number of women trained and qualified to fly fighters, bombers, and attack helicopters. Fully 53 percent of all career fields in the military services are now open to women. The military careers still off-limits are those in all combat situations. There are those who question the idea of integrating women into nearly all military jobs.

Brian Mitchell, author of The Weak Link: Feminization of the Military, contends, 'What we " ve got is a policy that says we want women in these jobs not because it's good for the military, but because it's the political will... ' Other critics worry that men and women serving together in close quarters will become distracted from effectively carrying out their military duties. Some doubt that females are emotionally prepared to participate in wartime killing, something American women have traditionally not been asked to do. What is the true story behind women and serving in the armed service? Is it as equal as the Army wants you to believe? This paper is going to tell you why today's female soldiers face gender discrimination, unequal opportunities and face vast amounts of sexual harassment in the country and from the government they pledged to protect.

Statistically, women are fully integrated in the Navy and other services today. currently, female promotion rates are equal to or better than those of men, and many women are now serving in high-ranking leadership positions in the Department of Defense and the services. The startling statistic that the army doesn't want you to now is that women are barred from over 50 percent of all positions in the Armed services and the average of female officers sits at nine percent. When asked why at a Presidential Commission meeting they gave several reasons. The first was that women are physically weaker than men and therefore standards would have to be lowered and unit effectiveness would be jeopardized.

Also one that alarmed me simply by its audacity is that the presence of women in units leads to sexual harassment and sexual assault. So instead putting a program in place to stop sexual harassment and sexual assault instead they choose to bar women from jobs that they feel would lead them into unethical and unsafe conditions. Another reason that was given was that women lose a disproportionate amount of time due to pregnancy therefor jeopardizing unit readiness. The next reason they gave was that if women preformed these jobs it would take them away from their families having psychological effects on their children. Finally the last reason they gave was the presence of women in units would affect unit cohesion and undermine the morale of men who do not want them there.

I believe women are capable of performing assignments in combat units as do many high ranking military officials. Three star general Thomas Hickey told USA today in my eyes there is not a single job in the armed services that a woman cannot do. They are not given many opportunities simply because of the stigma that is attached to women in combat. These restrictions that are put on women in the Armed services affect them in a number of ways. By excluding women from combat positions we create an unfair barrier on women's ability to be promoted.

The General Accounting Office concluded in a hearing on May 8th 1999 that combat inclusion is the greatest impediment to women attaining higher military rank. Until qualified women are given access to assignments that are central to the milit aries mission, they will be marginalized. Sexual harassment is a huge problem in the military today. Over 42 percent of all enlisted women say they have sexual harassed by they re male colleges. There have been major scandals ranging from the rape of 3 women at Annapolis to General Wayne Regis getting court marshaled for his part in the sexual harassment of 7 women throughout his career. What do you think of when you look at Americas Armed services?

When I began writing this paper I believed it was an equal opportunity employer that stands for the very basis of liberty and equality. Women are excluded from a number of jobs for no other reason than stereotyping, ideas of the inferiority of women in combat, and the chauvinistic thought of if their not there it wont happen. Remember none of the reason that I listed above would be sufficient for a government employer to legally close jobs to women so why is it different in our Armed Service?