By: Brooke Ballagh RWS 1301 BOOM!!! The ground shakes and my convoy comes to a Stop. Then I hear one of my soldiers call out Medic. I Instinctively grab my medic bag and security detail and head out Of the truck. Upon reaching the casualty I immediately notice that one of His legs is no longer attached to his body. At that point I go into medic mode to save my brother in arms. Do you think the fact that I was a female ever really crossed his mind? Probably not. The Combat Exclusion Policy is a U.S. congressional policy based on a 1988 Department of Defense restriction on womens military service that created the Risk Rule for assignment of women in the military, preventing women from being assigned to units that had the risk of exposure to direct combat, hostile fire, or capture. The policy has been revised over the past 24 years but still precludes women from being assigned to direct ground combat units. (Hay, 2012) As members of the profession of arms, we must objectively and dispassionately consider how best to improve the practice of our profession. Romantic or emotional attachment to tradition must not prevent us from doing what is best to prepare the force to achieve victory. The scope of war has drastically changed over the past two decades. Mission accomplishment depends on female service member participation now. Women are being recruited specifically because of their gender for Cultural Support Teams in Afghanistan. Due to cultural differences, the all-male units that go into remote villages are unable to interact with women. These women on the Cultural Support Teams do what their male counterparts are unable to so do such as conducting female searches or engaging the female population to gather intel. (Summers, 2013) Although women assigned to the Cultural Support Teams are training for and conduction the missions with their male counterparts, they are not able to receive the same recognition as their fellow male counterparts as holding an official position in the Special Forces. Not until this ban is completely lifted will the military be able to establish a level playing field for qualified women to enter all military positions and specialties, which will greatly impact the realities and necessities of modern day warfare. The Department of Defense needs to develop gender-neutral physical requirements for specific jobs and let those requirements weed out unqualified candidates, regardless of gender. (Hay, 2012)
References Hay, Lani. (2012). Women in special forces: The debate on combat exclusion. Diplomatic Couriers May/June Edition Summers, C. H. (2013). Women. Military Review, 93(4), 71-78