Sending Women Into Combat

Grab your rifle and combat gear. Guess what the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, established by Congress two years ago and charged with giving President Obama recommendations for changes in the military, says the U.S ought to do? Dismantle the last major area of discrimination in the armed forces by sending women into combat as front-line fighters, equal to men. "It is time "to create a level playing field for all qualified service members," advises the commission. In the U.S. military women are currently barred from certain combat assignments with most women now "in combat" behind the lines in combat support jobs, not on the firing line itself.

But what will Obama do in response? Who wants to be responsible when a daughter's body bag is brought home from a conflict? Yet, having equality means that there must be totally equality, even when it is uncomfortable to social customs and expectation. Opponents of putting women in combat question whether they have the necessary strength and stamina to fight in combat situations. They also have said the inclusion of women in infantry and other combat units might harm unit cohesion, a similar argument to that made regarding gays but that has now been eliminated. And they say that Americans won't accept the reality of large numbers of women coming home in body bags.

Proponents say it is discriminatory to send men to die while women, who have equality in all other aspects of society, are safely protected from the risks of combat. Too, with the gay soldier ban no longer in effect, how could anyone accept this discrimination against men? Too, by not sending women to fight on the battlefield, the military has made it harder for them to be promoted within the service because of that.

Current law in the U.S. requires only that males at age 18 register with the selective service department in case of a war that would require a call up of soldiers. Hmmmm being subject to death on the battlefield surely isn't what women's Lib leaders had in mind when the equal under the law push was so fervent. But in the end, being equal does seem to imply that women should take the same risk as men, even if it is upsetting to stereotypical images we as a society old of the two sexes.