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Examining the pros and cons of women in combat.

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PRO: Expanding Roles for Women Warriors

Women have been fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with men in the United States Army since the Republic's beginnings--undisputable historic fact. But many social conservatives are loudly complaining that clarifications, authored in 1994, concerning women in combat are being liberally interpreted thanks to operational necessity. They complain that American servicewomen are fighting openly alongside their brothers-in-arms in the global war on terrorism (GWOT). Correct. Some of these armchair warriors claim that the Army wants to trash the current gender collocation policy as part of an equalizing "social agenda." Incorrect.

Women are fighting and dying beside men--and will be--and there is nothing novel about it. Giving women credit where due, more training to defend themselves in firefights that find them, and making servicewomen equal partners in the armed forces--that would be new. As of mid-January 2005, 32 servicewomen have been killed in Iraq, five in Afghanistan, and more than 230 have earned Purple Hearts for combat wounds (tracked at www.fallenheroesmemorial.com).

The Army's internal discussions about collocation and mixed-sex Forward Support Companies (FSCs) are occurring post festum. The Army has conceded in internal briefing papers reported by the Washington Times December 15, 2004, that "Army manpower cannot support elimination of female soldiers from all units designated to be units of action elements," and all-male FSCs are impossible because recruiting numbers are too small. A "scissors crisis" in recruitment--one blade expanding OPSTEMPO, the other blade widening due to a diminishing human capital reserve for ground operations--has made women more indispensable to sustain PERSTEMPO levels. In his December 20, 2004, memo to the Army's chief of staff, chief of the Army Reserve LTG James R. Helmly has already warned that the Reserve "is rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force.'" Helmly has requested more latitude in the area of personnel flexibility. With almost 1,500 troops killed in Iraq and more than 10,000 wounded, most since May 1, 2003 (when offensive operations officially ended), women have seen their roles expand in fact, but not in policy.

With around 40 percent of warfighters in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and the Afghanistan campaign Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) drawn from the Guard and Reserve forces, more focus has been placed on the rising sacrifices of the citizen-soldier. Use of the Guard and Reserve continues to grow in the face of the protracted insurgency in Iraq and continuing operations supporting OEF, which includes the hunt of 9/11 perpetrator Osama bin Laden. Hope remains that the recent elections in Iraq will decrease violence and restore security. In the meantime, who better than the National Guard's female leaders to assess the trajectory of servicewomen's participation in combat operations and the military generally?

TENDER END OF GENDER PREJUDICE

MG Jessica Wright, appointed to lead the Pennsylvania National Guard in early 2004, is the second woman in history to lead a state's National Guard. In a recent interview, she noted that women are serving all over the world, and are engaged in a "non-linear battlefield." Women are "operating in the same environment that our combat arms operate in. The important thing for our soldiers to remember is that whether you are mechanic or an infantryman, you are a warrior first" she emphasized.

Far from shying away from the opportunity that combat is offering, Wright says, "women serving in the military are warriors and I think that the current environment has provided them the opportunity to shine. Our 131st Transportation Company from Williamstown, Pa., was led by a female commander, CPT Laura McHugh, and a female first sergeant, Brenda Coston. That unit was very successful during combat;' she noted.

Concerns over collocation rules and calls by conservative groups to keep women from the front lines are, in military terms, OBE, though such calls have all but monopolized the mainstream media. The boom of operational necessity is a louder voice. Fall 2003's Deployment Quarterly features a female Marine on the cover, assault rifle at the ready, inspecting supply trucks in a combat zone near Al Faw, Iraq. This role is rule, not exception.

For instance, women are indispensable in the search for suicide bombers. "I also know that during many operations we need women to come along to search other females to preserve host nation sensitivities. So the role of women in warfare is expanding and I think it will mean greater opportunities for women in the future," General Wright observed.

Arguing the American culture does not accept women in combat and urging...

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