Women allowed in combat: Will that mean it's less safe for men?
| WASHINGTON
With women now allowed to serve on the front lines, are men going to be more in danger on the battlefield?
And will America鈥檚 national security be jeopardized by men leaving the infantry in droves because they no longer see it as a tough, elite calling?
These have long been frequently-cited reasons for not allowing women to serve in combat.听
鈥淚 think some men will leave the infantry,鈥� says one senior Marine Corps officer. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to ask yourself why most young men join the Marine Corps, especially that group that wants to be infantrymen.鈥�
The answer, in many cases, is to 鈥渟hoot stuff and blow things up,鈥� he adds. 鈥淪o some percentage of those guys would be like, it wouldn鈥檛 be as much fun.鈥�
These arguments are often closely linked to the shared physical hardships that lead to espirit de corps.听
Can a woman carry her fellow soldiers out of danger, or hike long distances lugging heavy packs without falling behind and holding her fellow soldiers back?
鈥淭he answer to that is very straightforward: Create a physical fitness standard,鈥� says Anne Coughlin, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, in Charlottesville, Vir., who is spearheading a conference听Feb. 1 on women in combat in Washington, D.C.听
鈥淭hat鈥檚 all the litigation would ask for, or 鈥� to be candid 鈥� all that we would want.鈥�
Yet some worry that as women fail to meet physical fitness standards, the Pentagon will be tempted to lower them. 听
Recent history suggests that some standards are getting higher. The Marine Corps just got rid of the flexed arm hang for women as a physical fitness standard, and instead implemented pull-ups. Women must complete two pull-ups to pass the physical training (PT) test, and eight to max it out. Men receive the highest scores for 18 pull-ups, and must complete two to pass.
鈥淢y great fear is that once they鈥檙e open, and there are physical tests and so forth 鈥� you have to be able to bench press this, carry this, hump a 70 lb. rucksack or whatever it is 鈥� then the advocates for women in combat will say, 鈥楾hose standards aren鈥檛 appropriate,鈥� and they鈥檒l attack the standards,鈥� says Peter Mansoor, professor of military history at the Ohio State University and a former executive officer to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq.听
鈥淢y great fear is not that we open up combat arms positions to women, because I think we should,鈥� he says.鈥滿y great fear is that we鈥檒l dumb down the standards because women can鈥檛 meet them.鈥�
There鈥檚 another possible scenario, and that is that the military will attract more talented female athletes who didn鈥檛 want to join the military previously because they didn鈥檛 want to be limited by lower standards, says Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women鈥檚 Action Network.听
A former company commander in the Marine Corps, Ms. Bhagwati was the second woman to complete the Corp鈥檚 Martial Arts Program instructor trainer school, earning a black belt in close combat techniques.
鈥淩ight now there鈥檚 no incentive for women to join the military, because they鈥檙e not going to be treated equally,鈥� she says.听
While defense officials 鈥渢hink they鈥檙e getting the best, many serious women athletes don鈥檛 see the military as a possibility because they know they鈥檙e not treated equally.鈥�
That unequal treatment is often rooted in closely held cultural beliefs about femininity and fear of misplaced chivalry on the battlefield.
鈥淚f a male soldier is protecting other males he gets the medal of honor, but if he does it for females it somehow becomes an act of crazed chivalry that places national security in danger,鈥� says Professor Coughlin.
It鈥檚 a line of thinking that tends to be dismissed even by those who have concerns about women in combat.听
鈥淥ut of all the arguments, that鈥檚 the one to me that holds the least water,鈥� says the Marine Corps officer. 鈥淢ost guys don鈥檛 even open the doors for women anymore.鈥澨�
What鈥檚 more, women have been serving alongside men in battle for years. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 on the same team 鈥� those instances are extremely binary. It鈥檚 you and it鈥檚 the enemy,鈥� he adds, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e going to win.鈥澨�
With the right to take part in combat on behalf of their nation comes risks, but also full citizenship, says Bhagwati. 鈥淚 think in the history of the United States, every marginalized population only gained respect and real citizenship 鈥� not just in the sense of the vote, but of one鈥檚 peers 鈥� through military service,鈥� she adds. 鈥淥therwise you鈥檙e not considered 100 percent American. You鈥檙e just not.鈥澨�
