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A draft report by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommends that the military take action to lift the longstanding restriction on women serving in combat roles in the military.

The draft report is being discussed by members of the 24-member commission on Thursday and Friday. The change can be implemented without congressional approval.

The Department of Defense, the draft report recommends, should remove the “combat exclusion policies” for women to “create a level playing field for all qualified servicemembers”

“One frequently-cited argument in favor of the current policy is that having women serving in direct combat will hamper mission effectiveness by hurting unit morale and cohesion,” states the draft report, “comparable arguments were made with respect to racial integration, but were ultimately never borne out.”

In concurrence with permitting women to serve in combat roles, the commission is likely to recommend changes to allow for women to be promoted to top ranks within the military.


now i don't have a problem with women in combat units, IF they can fulfill the same physical requirements as men. currently, there are different standards in that regard for men and women. IMO combat isn't the place for political correctness. if some women can't do the same things as men, then i don't feel they should be put on the frontlines. a unit is only as strong as its weakest member.

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Well I agree with you there...about women physically being able to keep up with men in combat....BUT, that being said, why is it that there are women who serve as policemen, firemen, garbagemen, and many other physical jobs.  Honestly....I do believe that women would bring their "sixth sense" to the combat field.... a woman has "intuition" many more times than a man does.  Would this help them to know when a situation is "not safe"....and perhaps, then, save a couple of lives???

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I think that women already being deployed overseas to support troops over there (I know two ladies in particular that I'm proud to know) are facing some of the same difficulties that the men are.  I agree Dod that there are things that women can't do that men can better AND vice versa.  The current culture of the areas we are fighting in right now I don't think would welcome women combat units like the men.  Women already are deployed in support roles all over the Middle East, in combat zones, helping their fellow warfighters in the medical fields, technical fields, translators, etc, and are already in the middle of the fight.

On a side note, I really don't think putting women in combat would be a good idea now until they can find better ways to take care of women veterans.  There are real issues in the VA system in servicing the growing number of women veterans and I have a real problem with this.  It's bad enough that the VA already struggles to take care of the population it has now (men and women, mental health, wounded) but then to add in another layer of this would be I think difficult.  I don't think it should be the sole determiner of if women should serve in combat either.

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Women_Veterans_Lack_Health_Care_Services_113548419.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kayla-williams/va-health-care-for-women_b_231215.html

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There will always be those who argue that women in combat is bad for the reasons Dod mentioned and there's the arguement that captured female soldiers are more likely to be raped than their male counterparts. Given the current base of operations in the Afghanistan and Iraq this arguement holds no water what so ever.

I don't mean to rain on your parade Mary but saying that women could bring their sixth sense to the battlefield. Really? Saying that a woman's sixth sense is many times more powerful than a man's (which we call a gut feeling btw) is a massive sweeping generalisation with no basis in fact. However mt g/f does have a massive amount of spooky power, many more times powerful than mine, but so does my brother. She's a Pisces, he's a Cancerian and I' Scorpio.

So yeah getting back to the point I have no problem with women soldier's in combat. They take the money the same as men and in this day and age, with equal rights etc should have the same chance to get shot, blown up..... as men.

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Women have been serving in the IDF for years without any decrease in effectiveness.

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and for the record, there are plenty of men that can't meet the physical requirements necessary. they are washed out, just as many women would be. basically, if a chick has the balls and motivation to hack it, then more power to her, but don't lower the bar for anyone.

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
and for the record, there are plenty of men that can't meet the physical requirements necessary. they are washed out, just as many women would be. basically, if a chick has the balls and motivation to hack it, then more power to her, but don't lower the bar for anyone.

Apart for the limbo dancing  team....

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This is confusing to me because women have served on aircraft carriers...a combat warship since...the mid to  late 80s. And they fly jet aircraft and combat helos from what I understand.  Sounds to me like they already serve roles in combat.

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
This is confusing to me because women have served on aircraft carriers...a combat warship since...the mid to  late 80s. And they fly jet aircraft and combat helos from what I understand.  Sounds to me like they already serve roles in combat.

yeah, but they're not allowed into combat infantry units, which is what this is about.

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Originally Posted by David Macleod:
There will always be those who argue that women in combat is bad for the reasons Dod mentioned and there's the arguement that captured female soldiers are more likely to be raped than their male counterparts. Given the current base of operations in the Afghanistan and Iraq this arguement holds no water what so ever.

I don't mean to rain on your parade Mary but saying that women could bring their sixth sense to the battlefield. Really? Saying that a woman's sixth sense is many times more powerful than a man's (which we call a gut feeling btw) is a massive sweeping generalisation with no basis in fact. However mt g/f does have a massive amount of spooky power, many more times powerful than mine, but so does my brother. She's a Pisces, he's a Cancerian and I' Scorpio.

So yeah getting back to the point I have no problem with women soldier's in combat. They take the money the same as men and in this day and age, with equal rights etc should have the same chance to get shot, blown up..... as men.

Well, David, I'm a Cancerian too....not that it matters.  I just feel that it's very easy for the military (run by men) to say, "It's not safe for you to be on the battlefield."  So, that makes it "safe" for men to be there?  I think that as long as the training is done fairly for both sexes....then both sexes should be allowed to be on the frontline and in battle.  Of course, I already feel that we SHOULD NOT be in the war that we're in...but that's another whole argument!

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Originally Posted by Mary Kirkpatrick:
Of course, I already feel that we SHOULD NOT be in the war that we're in...but that's another whole argument!

afghanistan?

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Well...its ok to be Gay in the military now.  So we're gonna let gays in and ban women?  

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what about gay women?

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:

Originally Posted by Mary Kirkpatrick:
Of course, I already feel that we SHOULD NOT be in the war that we're in...but that's another whole argument!

afghanistan?

Yes

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I don't think we should have invaded Iraq or Afghanistan but those in power want the money they get from the rebuilding of Iraq and the oil pipeline they can run through (in theory) Afghanistan.

I would say that as long as women have to adhere to the same training as men then they should be allowed to serve in combat roles if they so wish. However if the training is less rigorous than the men get then that is simply pandering to the liberals/political correctness/feminists *whomever people want to blame lol*