Women in Combat

So yesterday the Pentagon announced that they were lifting the ban on women in combat positions in the military. The MilSpouse community exploded with opinions online. Some were positive, most others were very negative. I heard intelligent well thought out arguments on both sides and I also heard some of the worst arguments with no thinking at all. Personally I am all for the option.

Now hear me out before you jump down my throat. Am I saying that every woman in the military is cut out for combat positions, no. But that is the same as not every woman in America is not cut out to join the military. If a woman wants to join infantry and can complete the physical tasks laid in front of her, why shouldn't she be allowed to join? One of the arguments I heard was the personal hygiene counterpoint. "Women have periods, having no bath for over a month would be unsanitary." Well, there are several solutions to this issue. 1. don't join if you can't handle your own body. 2. take a birth control pill and skip the sugar pills to hold off your period. 3. pack ob non applicator tampons which take up next to no room or weight in a ruck. And for those who think a shower is necessary to maintain hygiene during your period, there are always baby wipes, which men having been using to clean while in the field for years now. 

Another argument I heard was that a woman who weighs 100 lbs can't pull my 200 lb husband out of the way in a fire fight. Well the military first off has weight standards on both ends, there are very very few women who are able to join who weigh less than 105 lbs. My husband joined underweight for his size and they actually made him eat double rations at basic lol. He weighed about 135lbs when he joined and he could still dead lift the 200lb man just like everyone else. Women who choose to join combat units know what is required of them and if they can't complete the tasks, then there are plenty of MOS's that they can join instead. But this goes along with the idea that not all women are going to line up in their heels to join the infantry.

Ok, now here come the illogical arguments lol. Several said that it would increase cheating. Women, if a man is going to cheat, he will. Working with all men won't change that and if you think he never sees other women during the infantry day you are sadly mistaken. Another one, "woman's place is in the household as a homemaker, God said so". This one boils my blood so I am only going to put this out there. 1. No one said YOU have to join. 2. Not everyone is Christian. My man is chivalrous, he is going to put his life on the line to save the female in his unit. The solution to this problem is just training. Train a soldier to do his job first no matter what and guess what, problem is solved.

The bottom line here is that women have been fighting in combat since the beginning of this war because there are no real front lines anymore. The Pentagon is just correcting the wording in basic terms lol. If you have deployed in the last 10 years then you have the opportunity to engage in combat even if you spend all day on the FOB, it doesn't matter what gender you are. Not everyone has to join the infantry or other combat units, but a woman should have that option. It is not about forcing the woman to be like a man, it is allowing the woman to have that choice. 

I am sure others will disagree with my feminist opinion but it is my opinion and I'm sticking to it lol. 

So what do you think about women in combat?