Women in Combat

Women In Combat

“Out here, there is no male gender and no female gender,” says Staff Sgt. Vincent Vetterkind, a squad leader of a mixed-gender combat unit. “Our gender is soldier” (Nordland). Until recently, combat had been widely considered a “male only” activity. Despite this notion that men are better suited to combat than women, women have always played a significant role in war. With advancements in technology, and the need for more combat soldiers because of the global war against terrorism, women, more than ever, are needed in the military.

Historically, women’s roles in combat have been limited with a few noted exceptions. During the Civil War, most military women were nurses (Bumiller 1). During World War II, the Soviet Army allowed some women to serve in combat with male troops as they fought the Germans. Ivan Levitsky, a battalion commander in the Soviet Army during World War II had many “misgivings” initially about having women in his artillery unit. After watching the women soldiers perform in combat, Levitsky commented, “The girls made fine soldiers, even more precise and meticulous than men” (Pennington 1). The women training whom were deployed to Afghanistan went through a combat refresher course to prepare for snipers and ambushes, and a lesson on the do’s and don'ts of talking to Afghan villagers. They learned to break the ice by playing with the children, and to not let your interpreter hijack the conversation. It’s also important, if they have a ponytail to let it show so they know you are a women (Bumiller 1 and 2).

In World War II women held the positions of multiple combat jobs just as their male counterparts did. Although women weren’t categorized as soldiers specifically they still...

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...omen can typically move faster than men because they don’t have as much muscle mass weighing them down. They are small enough to scope out the rabbit holes to make sure it’s safe, as with men, they’re too big so they typically have to use explosives to make openings bigger. This is risky to do because this can give away their location to the enemy (Sgt. Kosiba 1).

Throughout history women have proven themselves capable of serving in the military. Women have shown that they do play very important roles in each branch of the military. They’ve done many different types of the jobs, anywhere from nurses to snippers. They can be more useful than men in certain situations. In today’s world women should be given the same opportunities as men, including active combat roles.