Women on the Front Lines? - Part 2

As covered in my previous post, the topic of a woman's role in the military, mainly when it comes to their being able to be in combat units, continues to be a hot topic. Last time around, I looked at some comments from the Navy branch, and now some recent comments from the Marines have been reported.

There are women in combat, that is for sure, but for them to be actually included within a combat unit officially, is the issue at hand. Women have been included in support units, working just outside the wire along side and supporting combat units. Women have also been a part of many programs that work with women of other cultures, especially those that look down upon being interacted with by other males, i.e. searching woman in Iraqi cultures due to it being considered extremely disrespectful to be searched by a male outside of their family.

Cpl. Michele Greco-Lucchina spent most of 2010 as an FET Marine, earning many awards, but has spoken out about how she could see concerns with deploying men and women together in such situations. While yes, there are some women who could qualify and pass the physical strength requirements and more, there are many other issues that could make the situation a messy one, and that includes sexual tension.

Greco-Lucchina says "In any work environment, you’re going to have sexual tension, especially when you’re deployed and anything can go on...When we were out there, we had to find ways around it because the infantry battalions were not ready for us. We used what they used. If they showered, we weren’t around, and if we showered, they weren’t around....But that can cause many problems on a lot of levels, and I know the battalion commanders and company commanders and senior enlisted, that was, I think, their main concern: ‘How is this going to affect our male Marines?’"

Another FET marine, Sgt. Karina Villatoro, said "Women who haven’t served in FETs may not understand how substantial the differences are between serving alongside the infantry and being a part of it...It’s a totally different thing to augment them than to be one...For the women who want to try it, I think they should adhere to the male physical standards and from there, see how they do." That is the point I was making in my last post. As long as the standards are not lowered in order to allow women in these positions, and as long as there is no required quota requiring a certain amount of women to be in these positions, then yes, if a women can meet the criteria, then they could be allowed to fill that role.

Even male Marines have voiced concerns on the topic. Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent tells of a discussion on the topic while training a group of females in a first sergeants course, where he asked them how they felt about women serving in ground combat units. "Every first sergeant there but one said they should never serve in a ground combat unit, and they brought up valid reasons...You know, carrying a heavy load like men do. And, they brought up the hygiene issue, staying out in the field like those Devil Dogs in the infantry units right now. One female first sergeant even said, ‘We would distract from the mission.’ Because you know how we think: With our culture as Americans, we want to protect our females."

Regarding having women in the ranks, Gunnery Sgt. Phillip Hickey says “Unit cohesion would, in the long run, cease to exist. The young, hard-charging male would try to win her favor, and the young males would fight over her. It may look good on paper, but when it comes to real people, that’s a different story.”

I would likewise tend to agree. In theory it sounds great, but can it really work well in the field? What do you think?

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Armed Services Jobs blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog site.