
Nearly fifteen percent of today's active-duty force of the United States Armed Forces are women.  For centuries, Americans have argued whether or not females in the armed forces are beneficial to their country.  While some see females involved in combat as an incredible milestone for America, others see it as problematic and disadvantageous.  The desired outcome to any war is a win.  The question at hand is whether or not women can assist in achieving the outcome America wants when fighting a war; a win.  

Strength, both physical and emotional, is a strategy and characteristic a person needs to attain when fighting in combat.  Jane Eden, a former female marine, discussed the topic from her point of view. She writes, "the best woman is still no match for the best man, and most of the men she'd be fireman-carrying off the battlefield will be at least 100 lbs heavier than her with their gear on."  She discusses physical strength and compares a woman's strength to a man's strength.  She further discusses that when a man's physical ability was compared to a woman's physical ability, the man's was ten out of ten times greater than the woman's.  Eden, being a former member of the armed forces, has seen this statistic proven.  "Military training is hard enough on men's bodies; it's harder on women's" writes Eden.  She  believes that women, indeed, do have a more difficult time enduring the difficulties thrown at them while involved in combat.  She also touches on the topic of emotional strength.  Eden claims that women are both physically and emotionally weaker when they menstruate.  She states that "no one wants to talk about the fact that in the days before a woman's cycle, she loses half her strength, to say nothing of the emotional ups and downs that affect judgment."  She discusses the emotional impact the war can have on a person, and how sometimes a woman who is very unstable may make a decision or two that she may regret.  Of course there are exceptions to this belief that women are weaker than men.  For example, mental strength and physical strength varies between each person.  Just because a person is female, does not mean they are automatically mentally weak.  The United States Armed forces trains these soldiers to become strong.  The boot camps and trainings each person gets while involved in the service is very effective.  Crystal Lombardo, the chief editor at NLCATP magazine writes that "muscle building training and pre-training can always prepare women for combat roles."  She also states the fact that most 21st century fighting is not done with fists or swords, like back in the old days.  She writes that most battles "are mostly powered by technology. Brute strength is seldom used in combat roles. Even the operation that took out Osama Bin Laden was highly technical and did not require much hand to hand combat or physical force. It was all tactical. Such combat positions can always use women as women are just as savvy with technicalities as men." She also mentions that men too, can be emotionally unstable, however some are better at keeping it to themselves than women are.  

Not only do some think a female's strength can be seen as a negative effect on the outcome of war, they also believe that relationships can be setbacks as well.  Working together and getting along is another very crucial aspect of fighting a war.  The former female marine, Jude Eden states that "unit cohesion, which is imperative and paramount, especially in the combat fields" is a very important aspect of combat.  She discusses the fact that woman can be seen as distractions.  She states that "the last thing on your mind should be sex; but you put men and women in close quarters together, and human nature is what it is."  A former male marine, Chad Russell, gave his input on this topic as well.  He believes women in combat are a major distraction.  He says "we're young guys. We have a strong sexual drive and we are noticing them [the women] and going out of our way to notice them. So it does create a distraction."  With these relationships occurring, challenges are to be faced as well.  Pregnancies, molestation, and rape occur, whether or not people want to face this truth.  Matters such as these severely affect unit togetherness.  Eden provides an example when she writes "the Navy proved that [unit togetherness was being affected] when they started allowing women on ship. What happened? They were having sex and getting pregnant, ruining unit cohesion (not to mention derailing the operations because they'd have to change course to get them off ship.)"  She also writes "then there are relationships.  Whether it's a consensual relationship, unwanted advances, or sexual assault, they all destroy unit cohesion."  Relationships blossom and end, creating trust issues and conflicts between people in each unit.  Of course, not all of these relationships end, and not every female gets raped, molested, or pregnant.  Crystal Lombardo states that "women who would sign up for combat roles are conscious enough to avoid pregnancy when they are out on the battlefront."  She also discusses the rape and molestation issue by claiming that "women are likely to get more abused as prisoners or when captured by the enemy but men are also subjected to brutal torture. Men get raped too."  Relationships in war can go either way.  Some end abruptly and others end in marriage. The idea of women in combat affecting relationships and unit cohesion is solely based on how a person views the topic.  

Finally, women have so much potential that can be used elsewhere.  Former male marine Chad Russell was asked what he thought about the "sensitive side" women bring to combat.  He stated that it was not necessarily needed in actual combat, but rather in other parts of the war such as cooks, nurses, and doctors.  Former female marine Jude Eden writes "yet another little-discussed issue is that some female military members are leaving their kids behind to advance their careers by deploying."  Women use their sensitive nature to nurture their children and raise them properly.  Eden tells a story about a woman she knew who left her autistic son behind to fight in combat.  She was greatly wounded and received a purple heart.  She asks "what if she'd been killed, leaving behind her special needs child? Glory was more important than motherhood."  This should not be the case.  Crystal Lombardo believes that this is not true in every situation.  She believes men to be just as qualified as women to raise a family and she believes women to be just as qualified as men to deploy and serve for their country.  She thinks women have the same effect on the armed forces as men do and she believes that women can serve just as strongly and as proudly as men.  

"The life of an infantryman is no glory. It's strictly about staying alive and keeping each other alive while defeating the enemy.  There's no glory in killing or being killed, not when it involves the lives of the futures of very good young people. This is not a video game where you can press reset and combat is not about equal opportunities. It's about surviving and it's about defeating the enemy."  Chad Russell said this in the subject of women in combat.  "We are at war; and if we want to win, we have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And the top priority should be military readiness and WINNING wars, not political correctness and artificially imposed "equality" on the military,"  Jude Eden wrote.  Winning is the main desired outcome of fighting a war.  America wants to win all wars it fights in.  Women and men, both, can affect this outcome both positively and negatively.  With mental and physical strength, relationships, and gender roles, the armed forces are affected by having both sexes involved in combat.  Whether the pros outweigh the cons, or the cons outweigh the pros is up to the person being asked the question: What are the effects of women in combat?

 
