Women in Combat: an Objective Snapshot in Time

Since women in the military is an important component of The Last Top Gun, from time to time I'll be posting news or information relevant to the topic. David Burrelli from the Congressional Research Center wrote a highly informative and objective report entitled "Women in Combat: Issues for Congress.  Here is an excerpt from the December 12, 2012 report:

Over the years, more than 283,000 female service members have been deployed worldwide. In approximately 10 years of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 800 women have been wounded and over 130 have died. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), as of February 29, 2012, over 20,000 female members have served or are serving Afghanistan and Iraq. (U.S. forces were out of Iraq as of Dec. 2011.) On numerous occasions women have been recognized for their heroism, two earning Silver Star medals. This has resulted in a renewed interest in Congress, the Administration, and beyond in reviewing and possibly refining or redefining the role of women in the military. The expansion of roles for women in the armed forces has evolved over decades. Women are not precluded from serving in any military unit by

law today. (Past laws that precluded women from serving on board military aircraft and ships assigned combat missions were repealed in the early 1990s.) DOD policy restricting women from serving in ground combat units was most recently modified in 1994. Under this policy, women may not be assigned to units, below the brigade level, whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground. Primarily, this means that women are barred from infantry, artillery, armor, combat engineers, and special operations units of battalion size or smaller. Since there are

no laws precluding such service, changes made in assigning women are only controlled under current policies which may be modified by the Administration and DOD. 

In the summary section, the report states:

Supporters of opening more areas to women note that they are already serving, fighting, and in some cases, dying in combat. Critics contend that it is the military that is ignoring its own policy and thereby creating a fait accompli that puts women and the military mission at risk.

Those opposed to women in combat note that the progress of women is not the most important issue at hand. They contend that national security has been and would further be jeopardized because of the presence of women in the ranks. They note the Canadian experience in which women were recruited for the 16-week infantry training course which was identical to the men’s course. The outcome was described as the ‘high cost of recruiting women that yielded poor results.These critics note disruptions to cohesion and high rates of attrition for females in labor intensive specialties due to lower average upper body strength and higher rates of stress fractures. Those opposed note that close combat situations have and continue to exist, especially in Afghanistan, and that there is a distinction between ‘returning fire’ and ‘offensive close combat.’

The Marine Corps opened its Infantry Officers Course to women, planning to admit up to 100 women in a one-year experiment. Two female Marines have so far signed up and begun training; neither completed the grueling 13-week program. Since women themselves are divided on the issue, one option is to permit women who meet the service standards (physical, training, etc.) to be assigned to combat positions, but that they should be sent into combat only if they volunteer for such missions. Critics contend that it would be unfair to permit women a choice that is not available to men, and that to make the choice available to both men and women would make if difficult for the services to function, especially in the event of war or national emergency.

Any changes proposed by the Services will likely be subjected to congressional scrutiny. Congress may accept any proposed changes or seek to subject such changes to certain limitations. Conversely, Congress may consider that any proposed changes remain too restrictive concerning the availability of combat roles for women.

The entire report can be found here.

Hmm, there's ample ammuniton in the report for both Troll and Ariel to volley at one another.