There has been a long debate about women in the military ever since they were first admitted into the services.  More recently, the discussion has been should women be assigned to combat roles, like infantry, artillery, and armor?  These jobs require the person in them to be at the peak of their physical condition having to go on marches through hundred-degree weather with packs that are hundreds of pounds.  The ethics of integrating woman into these positions is prominent as the United States military cannot discriminate against women because of preconceived thoughts that they cannot succeed in these roles.  Women have made great strides in the military but still have a lot of hurdles to overcome.  One of the stumbling blocks is that woman are often seen as female first and “soldiers” second.  So, instead of being treated equally they are being treated as someone who is weaker and needs help.  Though woman should be allowed to be integrated into combat roles, women should also be required to meet mission standards.  If they are allowed to join these roles they should have to prove themselves like everyone else striving to get into these roles especially when it comes to special operations like Green Berets, Navy Seals, and Rangers.  Everyone deserves to try out for these roles but only the best of the best are allowed in and it should stay that way.   On the battlefield, it does not matter who you are, you have to be strong enough to do your job.  Though it may be harder for woman to pass the standard physical fitness test, they should not be held back because of preconceived notions about their gender.  So long as women can meet the same standards as their male counterparts, they should be allowed to hold any position in the military.

The integration of woman in the military is a slow process that has had many hurdles and failures along the way due to short comings in the full testing of the issue.  In a test conducted by the Marine Corps, it attempted to integrate women into the basic training of basic combat roles to almost complete failure.  There is not a lot of historical information about this type of integration because the Marine Corps says it “treated this as a gender-blind process” (Harrlell,Margarat 76).  Also, there is limited information on how the test was conducted by the Marine Corps: only one woman has made it through training but was medically dropped and most likely recycled.  The most interesting part is that women are not even allowed into the ranks because “their role supporting direct combat ground units, combat engineer battalions are closed to female Marines” ( Harrlell,Margarat 77).  Women have a disadvantage from the jump, as they cannot even join these positions without getting an automatic denial.  Overall woman face a lot of adversity out of the gate in regards to combat roles without an explanation of why.  With these automatic denials other inequalities arise.  “If the closed assignments are perceived as unappealing to men, the women may be resented for compelling their male colleagues to be assigned to the less attractive assignments while the women fill the more appealing assignments” ( Harrlell,Margarat 78).  With the Marines shutting the door for women they also are shutting the door for men who are forced into positions they do not want to be in.   Forcing people into positions that they do not want to be in spells failure for the rest of the military.  If someone does not want to be in a position they are assigned to they will not do it at one hundred percent which will cause failures further down the road.

Though the test was not a success this should not hold women back.  The success of one woman shows that it can be done.  It shows that all the preconceived notions were wrong and that women can make it with the hard standards set before them.  Although the female Marine was dropped due to medical problems, her successful finish means there are other women out there that could also pass and start making progress in these fields.  “They assume women will only serve in support roles unless able to prove via physical strength test ability to fill more physically demanding combat occupations. But such testing would allow capable people to intentionally avoid difficult, high mortality assignments. Simply put, reserving all the support jobs for women constitutes unequal treatment, and drafted men aren't likely to accept women occupying an unfair share of low-risk jobs”(The Truth).  Opening the positions to everyone would greatly help women be viewed as equals. It just takes one to show that it is possible, and would inspire others to strive towards these goals causing a domino effect of acceptance throughout the military.

A preconceived notion is that "Women who enter formerly closed units and MOSs [Military Occupational Specialty] will be volunteers” (The Truth), but this would not be true if they were subjected to the same regulations as men.  Men are often forced into these positions against their will, “In 1999, at West Point, a number of men were forced into permanent infantry assignments.  Every year, per Army Regulation 614-100, men are branch-detailed from their chosen branches into the infantry” (The Truth).  This would help with the integration of women and the promotion of equality.  With equal standards women would gain respect throughout the military, something they have not had before.  “The military currently prefers to remediate those who can't meet physical standards.  An infantry soldier unable to keep pace can't just drop out of the infantry” (The Truth).  Bottom line: It’s important to keep the standards tied to the mission requirements.    

Women are dealing with “equal but different’ physical standards” (Gender Equality).  Jobs in the military require each person to be in peak physical condition and the mission’s success cannot be reached if compromises are made.  Ethically it is not fair that some should be held to higher standards than others.  Even with the differences between men and woman “we want the best and most qualified defending our freedoms and way of life”(Gender Equality).  Each soldier has to carry the same load, carry the same injured person out of combat, and go through the same physical requirements during a mission, “The mission standard of these critical and vital units must not be lowered to meet the needs of females.  If women are able to meet the physical standard required of a position, then good for them.  They then should be granted every opportunity that a man is offered” (Gender Equality).  Especially in the specialized positions like Rangers, Navy Seals, and Green Berets.  They are sent on specialized missions that require everyone to be in peek physical condition.  These specialized positions are often sent in small teams like the Navy Seals in small teams on very integrate missions where no one can fall behind.  If someone was to not be in the correct physical condition they would be a liability to the team and could compromise the mission or even cost the life of a fellow team member.  Being sent on missions that often give them little support it is important that each member can contribute to their fullest because each plays a vital role.  Without complete team cohesion they would not be able to complete the mission at hand and PT and intense training is the critical difference between these specialized forces and the regular military.  Holding different genders to different standards would deteriorate the effectiveness of these forces not allowing them to accomplish the important missions they are often tasked with.  

Women have been fighting prejudice in the military for decades and have overcome so much.  A quote from Capt. Serrano is that the attempt for woman to be integrated is people just trying to “stir the pot” ( DO Belong) using it as an excuse for people trying to be politically correct and pushing their agenda.  He is steering the conversation intentionally in the wrong direction trying to take credibility away from the hard working women in the military.  Capt. Serrano’s argument completely breaks stasis by not agreeing on the meaning and nature of the issue at hand.  He also does not agree on a plan of action.  His idea of solving the problem is attacking anyone who tries to bring up the subject or make any real progress.  If the conversation cannot reach stasis then no progress can be made.  The thoughts of society are not what should bar women from making progress, “the needs of the Marine Corps are more important to society” (DO Belong).   The United States military is directly related to society as it is a microcosm of it, recruiting from the citizenry.  The culture of the U.S. is deeply wrapped up in the military and progress in one is progress in the other.  The U.S. is a country perpetuated by war and would not be what it is today without the military: so progress is integral to the military being a part of society.  

If women are not integrated correctly there will be a lack of success in all the branches of the military.  In the military cohesion is key to success.  If everyone is not on the same page physically and mentally the strict system will fail.  “A unit that lacks these attributes may fail, and the price paid can cost lives and sacrifice mission accomplishment.  Those who oppose allowing women in ground combat units argue that a female’s presence negatively impacts unit cohesion, readiness and performance,” (Marines or MARINES).   If you do not have complete confidence in the man or woman next to you there will be unwanted consequences.  The following examples will damage units from the inside out: assumed physical weaknesses, improper relationships, sexual misconduct, perceived preferential treatment, or mismatched abilities.   “We hear that men cannot adapt to the presence of women in combat or will be fatally distracted by women.  Therefore, women should not be allowed.  Such assumptions undermine the integrity, intelligence, dedication, and professionalism of all Marines”(Marines or MARINES).  It is not women’s responsibility or fault with the problems of integration if someone cannot accept or is too distracted with women in their ranks.  The military is a brotherhood/sisterhood where strong individuals come together and defend freedom.  The way we should define freedom is for everyone to be able to reach their greatest potential.  

The whole culture of the military has to change if integration is going to be a success.  The prevalence of sexual assault and rape in the military has to change " Given the high rates of rape in the military, it is not surprising that 44 % of respondents (N = 11) reported both concern about sexual assault and active work to prevent it, especially during deployments.  In addition, 12 % (N = 3) reported that they were not particularly concerned about sexual assault, but only because of the steps they took to prevent it” (Vulnerable Warriors).  With such high concerns about sexual abuse there is a lot of underlying problems that need to be changed especially with more integration of woman in the military.  With women being scared about their safety there cannot be trust between each other in the field.  Stories like: “After we learned that we were going to deploy, one of my cousins told me that she had been raped when she had deployed.  And then other women in my barracks started talking about women they’d known from basic training who had been raped in Afghanistan.  I started getting really scared” (Vulnerable Warriors)”.  These stories are unacceptable and are very unproductive.  This sets back the whole integration discussion as the military cannot function with distrust.  

Sexual assault in the military and in general is a huge problem but using it as an excuse to keep woman from joining these roles is unacceptable.  It is something that needs to be addressed further and it has to provide women with more opportunity to seek help.  But thoughts like “Capt Serrano makes the point that “incorporating women into infantry ranks will increase the number of cases [of sexual assault/harassment] in infantry units,” and that is a serious concern that we will need to address” (DO Belong).  This is pushing off an already prevalent problem.  This is the same as saying that if sexual assault is a problem then women should not be allowed to do anything.  So if that is true, women should not be able to leave the house because of fear of being assaulted.  Furthermore, no one should leave their houses because they might get hurt.  This type of thinking can lead to a domino effect that would lead to a lot of relapses of progressive thought in the military and society as a whole.  To make progress we have acknowledge the faults in said progress but that does not mean we stay stagnant.  

Overall, allowing women to compete for combat positions is critical to them being seen as equals.  The military will always have an air of inequality until steps are taken to change.  Thinking that women are not qualified for these positions only hurts the military as a whole.  The resistance only generates instability in the ranks and with distrust, the military cannot function.  Where it comes to equality the standards should not change.  Equality is everyone getting the same opportunity to succeed, but that does not mean there should be acceptations for some and not for others.  This again will just create distrust and anger between soldiers that think some got to where they did unfairly which compromises the mission.  Everyone needs to be on an even playing field for this to work which means changing PT expectation to be the same for everyone.  Once this occurs the ball can start rolling, and men and woman can truly be unified in the ranks.  With all the underlying problems the military already faces, it is important to look at this from all angles.  The military as a whole has to change its preconceived notions about women.  Changing these thoughts will help the integration process but it will not happen overnight.  It is important to get the ball rolling sooner than later.  Letting all these prejudices continue will only continue to separate men and woman further.  Driving a wedge between each other and eliminating one of the most important and strongest parts about what makes our military the strongest and best in the world, brotherhood.  Brotherhood/Sisterhood is what makes the United States military the deterrent it is and without it the military would just be a bunch of individuals who could not accomplish the simplest task but if everyone has each other’s backs they can accomplish anything.  So as long as woman can prove themselves the military should not bar them from joining any of role in the military, and letting woman prove themselves is the best way of changing the views of men and woman in the military today. 
