Army Strong Stories - Lifting the ban

Lifting the ban

January 24, 2013 | Captain Hannah He

The Pentagon announced they are lifting the ban on women serving in ground combat positions. To help you out, this does not mean they are going to be infantry. That is still iffy. This means that women can perform their jobs assigned to a battalion which primarily conducts combat missions. This means that I, as a Signal officer, can now be assigned to an infantry or armor unit. This doesn't mean I am infantry or armor. It means I can do the job I am trained for in a unit that is currently all-male.

This will definitely make the Army stronger as a whole. Everyone who says that it will break down unit cohesion must not respect women. Will men act differently around women? I hope so. But it won't drop their combat effectiveness. Completely competent women should not be excluded from a challenging assignment simply because she is not a man.

7 Comments

Brandon
1/25/2013 10:21 AM

If you don't beleive someone capable should be excluded based on gender, then you must also support the notion that someone capable should not be excluded based on age (regarding the enlistment age limit of 35).
Jes
1/25/2013 10:35 AM

Do You think that women will be able to eventually be part the Rangers or the Special Forces? Or will that stay strictly men do to the nature of the mission that they carry out?
Im sorry if that isn't worded correctly, I am wanting to enlist but, waiting for everything to pan out and see what options will be available.
Livy S
1/25/2013 10:48 AM

I am a fourteen year old girl in eighth grade. My entire language arts class (gifted and advanced) is doing a unit on careers. While searching for more information on my preferred career, an emergency medical technician in the army, I came across this article. I originally wanted to be an artillery and missile crew member, but it was shown that this area was closed to women. Not only was I aggravated by that, but my friend, who is a boy, and is also joining the army with me, thought it was unfair. He said he knows that I am more capable than he would be anywhere in the military. He told me that I am calm minded and level headed under extreme stress and pressure, I'm certainly clever enough to make it through any situation and he would rather have me on his side in a fire fight than eight other men. The fact that women cannot defend their country like men can, for the fact that we were born as the gender we are, sickens me and I will never understand the ignorance I have to face every day during class from all the boys, who tell me that I can't join the military, that I'm not smart enough. A fourteen year old young woman who has her entire college and high school classes planned out, plans to become a paramedic and then join the army as a medical technician is most certainly capable of achieving her goals. There are men like my classmates and men like my best friend, who respects me and defends me when I cannot defend myself on my own. Not only that, but he doesn't think that I need defending all the time. He knows I can fight for myself. When he joins the army, America will have a good man fighting for them and I hope he can teach other males in the military a thing or two about women who can fight. Just the other day, I took him down for saying Optimus prime was better than the Doctor by throwing his Tekken game case at him and giving him a bloody lip, which I felt bad about later. Imagine what I would do if someone threatened my team/country when I have a handgun instead of a ps3 game case.
Kat
1/25/2013 2:49 PM

Livy S- I just enlisted in the army and my MOS is 13 mike (artillery rocket launch crew member). I am a female and it is true this job was not opened to women until recently.
andrew
1/26/2013 2:41 AM

If women came to my infantry unit i would hate my life the way we talk to each other and treat each other is a brotherhood not a bro\sister hood its infantryman not infantrywoman the army is getting weak and not what it needs to be u cant even smoke people because of weak minded people...all the power to females being in combat just not actually infantry the eo complaints would be way to ridiculous
Wes
1/26/2013 7:17 PM

If your qualified for the job then I believe you should be able to do it. Congratulations!!!
Ashleigh M
1/29/2013 1:47 AM

This is so cool. I was excited too. This oens up the possibility for me to branch Infantry out of college, well if I can get into West Point, andis what I have really wanted to do. I kept the TV off, so my mom didn't find out until Thursday morning, and Wednesday night was a nightmare for me waiting on her to find out. She is already honest with me that she doesn't agree with women in the military, and she is constantly telling me that she won't try to change my mind but she thinks I will. Anyway, I am pretty excited too, and congratulations.

God Bless,
Ashleigh