Women in the Military: Baggage or Benefit?

For years it has been a huge debate whether women should be allowed in the military. While women are allowed to be in the military, there are still far less women than men. Moreover, there are practically no women in special forces or special operations positions. However, in 2017, two women became candidates for special operations in the Navy. One of these women was even a candidate for the NAVY Seals (Buncombe, 2017). Furthermore, in 2017, one woman was able to join the 75th Ranger Regiment (Buncombe, 2017). With more females becoming candidates for these specialized roles in the military, it has become a greater point of controversy whether they should be allowed in these positions or not. Specifically, should women be allowed in combat roles?

In 2015, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter made an announcement that all combat positions would be open to women (Baldor). However, there was a lot of backlash from this announcement. 85% of men in the military believe that women should not be allowed to work in special operations and 80% believe women do not have the strength to be able to meet the standards of the job (Baldor). At first this seems ridiculous. Women are just as capable as men. However, there may be some merit in the claims that women are not fit for combat roles specifically special operations.

"Combat Fitness" or "Military Readiness" is the ability to perform a specific military related task efficiently without injury (Epstein et al., 2013, 2015). According to these standards, women can not be integrated into combat roles. Women are more prone to have overuse injuries than men. According to Epstein et al., in order to perform at the same standards of men in the military, women over exert themselves leaving themselves open for injury (Epstein et al., 2015). Overuse injuries happen when the body cannot adapt to repeated overloading forces (Epstein et al., 2015). Women have a smaller body frame meaning their bodies are under more stress when carrying the same load as men. Furthermore, they have a lower ratio of fast-twitch to slow-twitch muscles, lower lean body mass, and lower bone strength density which leads to a lower load carrying index (Epstein et al., 2015). Also, due to the lower load carrying index, women may not be able to carry the weight of a fallen soldier if necessary putting their own life and fellow soldiers life more at risk.

Due to these physiological limitations, women are more likely to obtain injuries and be unable to perform the job demands. Therefore, they do not meet the qualifications of Combat Fitness and should not be allowed to perform in combat related jobs. Allowing women into combat could compromise the mission and the lives of the others on their team. However, in other roles in the military women can perform just as well as men if not better. Therefore, women should be allowed in the military but not in combat related jobs. However, banning women from combat related roles could be discriminatory and gender bias. The military is already known for showing gender bias including equipment generally made for males and not females. Therefore, is it ethical to not allow women in combat roles, especially if they can prove they are just as fit as men of the same level? However, the opposite question could be posed as well: is it ethical to allow them into combat roles? Allowing women into combat roles could compromise missions if they are more prone to injury or could even risk someone's life if they cannot carry a fallen soldier. However, their are men in the military who have a smaller body frame and therefore a smaller load carrying index as well. Therefore, maybe those men are not military ready either, yet they are allowed in these combat roles.

Other noteworthy factors of women being integrated into the military include high rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment, potentially being a distraction in a male dominated field as well as in a combat environment, and military standards and equipment that are made for males instead of females.

Baldor, L.C. US Special Operators Say No to Women in Special Operations Jobs.

Epstein, Y., Yanovich, R., Moran, D.S., and Heled, Y. (2013). Physiological employment standards IV: integration of women in combat units physiological and medical considerations. Eur J Appl Physiol 113, 2673–2690.

Epstein, Y., Fleischmann, C., Yanovich, R., and Heled, Y. (2015). Physiological and Medical Aspects That Put Women Soldiers at Increased Risk for Overuse Injuries: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 29, S107–S110.

Buncombe, Andrew(2017). Woman becomes US Navy’s first female SEAL candidate.
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Big Step For Women in Combat.