Women in Combat, Women of Power

Women are now allowed to join some combat MOS’s. I have heard the argument that this is a crazy idea and that it’s just not going to work - all the macho talk that says women are too weak, mentally and physically, to handle the high stress environment of a combat situation. Let’s not forget the all too familiar: “They are going to get someone killed. “

I feel as if to fully grasp and accept the decision, one has to dig deeper into the situation. Look at prehistoric times when men and women were hunters and gatherers. Why were men the hunters? Was it because the woman gave birth and had the means to feed the baby? And therefore she was obligated to stay and take care of the child in the early stages of being a human, thus freeing up the man of responsibility so he could go out and forage and hunt for food? And then because of this, we evolved with our assigned roles as males and females. Or was it because women were inherently weaker? I think that the prehistoric argument holds more weight. If you take a look at history, there are a number of famous examples of women in combat.

There was Joan of Arc, who not only proved her mettle in combat, but proved herself as a leader of an army and set the example of fighting from the front. She was wounded more than once in battle. More recently, there was Mary Hays, more commonly known by her nickname Molly Pitcher. During the Revolutionary War, she was a camp follower of the American 7th Regiment. During the Battle of Monmouth, she took her husband’s spot on a cannon after he collapsed and began loading and firing it. She heroically rallied the troops by her side. A century or so later, during World War II, the Russians used women as fighter pilots and snipers to great effect.

I personally witnessed exceptional performance of women in combat situations in Iraq on more than one occasion - not only as subordinates in supposedly “non-combat MOS’s,“ but as leaders. To be quite honest, there are more than a handful of male soldiers whose performance levels were not even close to comparable to those of some of the women.

In regards to power and leadership, are these men opposed to women in combat really naïve enough to think that male leaders throughout history were not influenced by women? I think men in positions of power, whether they are supervisors for a few individuals or if they are presidents of large corporations, consult with their wives regularly. Think about it. A great example, regardless of how you feel about her politically, is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During her tenure as First Lady, do you really believe that President Bill Clinton was making decisions without consulting her? To think so, in my opinion, would be naïve.

It’s easy to go with the currently commonplace thought among male comrades that women just “can’t hang.” I feel that history dictates the opposite. And in reality, women are just as capable as men. Only time will prove me right.