By Gwen Furmanek
Assistant Opinion Editor
We’ve begun a new year, and with it should come progress in policy.
Change happened this past week when a historic moment in history occurred. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced the U.S. military is lifting its prohibition on women serving in combat, according to a Jan. 24 USA Today article. This move will grant an immense opportunity to women by opening hundreds of thousands of military positions to them.
Yes, there are many considerations to take into account, but the basic principle should be that if a woman is qualified to do the mission, there should be no legal reason to omit her from completing it. Panetta said not everyone is able to meet the requirements for being a combat soldier, but everyone should be permitted the opportunity, according to a Jan. 24 Fox News article.
According to the same article, Lawrence Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and the Reagan administration’s former assistant Secretary of Defense, said the decision will give women a better chance in competing for higher rank.
Women have already been in forms of combat without the acknowledgement of the public. Of the U.S.’s 1.4 million active military personnel, women make up 14 percent; whether they fire a weapon or not, they’ve been targets of the enemy, just like their male colleagues, according to the USA Today article. Women have been victims of wars, too. It is about time women have the opportunity to move up in rank and be allowed to fight in combat.
“The reality of today’s battlefield is that all who serve are in combat,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a member of the Armed Services Committee and supporter of the change.
In reality, this push for women on the front lines isn’t as drastic as it seems. Women have been on the field alongside men as medics, military police and many other crucial roles. The distinction between legally being allowed to fight in combat or not ultimately made little difference to the 152 female U.S. troops who have died while deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to the USA Today article. Women have laid down their lives for this country and still do not have full respect or admission in the military.
A lot of doubt exists on whether women will make the cut physically. But if women can meet the same requirements as men, why not allow them to do the job? Each branch of the military will be releasing its physical tests for standards of both genders.
This issue comes as a new challenge women will revel in. They will prove they can once again beat the odds. To those few ground breakers, this will merely be a challenge they are more than happy to accept. History will be made when women prove they should have been allowed to pursue this from the start.
Women are as much a part of this country as men are, so let them help protect what is ours.
