Get Ready for Combat

By Cheryl Mattox Berry

If you’re considering a career in the military, a new frontier awaits you – combat duty. Last month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided it was time to put women on the front line if that is their desire.

I support equal pay and equal rights for women but putting them on the battlefield? That’s another story. Let’s start with the obvious: Women and men aren’t created equal. Women have about half the upper body strength as men. In basic training, more women than men drop out because of injuries (mainly stress fractures) or not being physically qualified.

Conclusion: Women aren’t as strong as men and would have a difficult time keeping up with the rigors of sustained combat.

Of course, there will always be exceptions. Some women can whup a man, but that doesn’t happen very often. Think Rihanna and Chris Brown. Evelyn Lozada and Chad Johnson. Who ended up battered and bruised? No matter how much time a woman spends in the gym, she’ll come up short on muscle mass and power, compared with a man.

The decision to integrate women into the infantry seems premature and should have been debated by Congress. Also, there needs to be more research on gender-specific medical issues (short and long term) and the physical toll fighting takes on women.

Of 2 million troops sent to Afghanistan and Iraq, more than 280,000 have been women. About 800 have been wounded, and at least 130 died in the combat arena, where female ground troops are attached to combat units. The U.S. military has yet to figure out how to best serve the current and future needs of its wounded, men and women.

Issues of rape, sexual harassment and physical abuse of females need to be addressed by all branches of the military. Some critics of the new policy say the number of cases might increase because men will resent women being given special treatment when it comes to combat.

The voice of future female troops has been missing in this debate. How do you feel about fighting alongside men?