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Thi rsday, November 9, 2000
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THE BATTALION
women in military, combat
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T here was a time when
women were viewed as ca
pable only of domestic jobs.
Lindsay McKenna, who served
in the Navy from 1964 to 1967, has
written a book that is expected to
spark the debate of the next issue
of women’s civil rights — whether
women should be allowed to fight
in ground combat.
Dr. Sara Alpern, associate pro
fessor of history, said that, as far
back as the American Revolution,
when women disguised them
selves as men, women have been
taking up arms in war.
McKenna said there are still
glass ceilings for women, and it is
up.to today’s generation to push
past them. She said women need to
ask themselves, “Why shouldn’t I
be fighting in ground combat?”
James Bradford, associate pro
fessor of history at A&M, said
some women view discrimination
in any form due to their gender as
an infringement of their civil
rights. He said the view that
women need to be protected is
rooted in gender roles.
McKenna said allowing only
men to fight is clear discrimination.
“1 absolutely believe it’s a civil
rights question,” said McKenna.
“The decision is based on gender,
riot on fact.”
McKenna said the idea that
women cannot handle combat is a
patriarchal stigma that has been
around for at least 1,000 years. She
said that, by not allowing women
in combat, the military loses 50
percent of its intelligence, strategy
and creativity. She called women
an untapped resource.
“Women look at details,”
McKenna said. “When you are in
combat, details are important. Pay
ing attention to details keeps you
and your squad safe. Men have the
ability to look at details. They just
do not go with it.”
McKenna said, in today’s military, women are not allowed to serve in
about 15 percent of the positions. Women can serve almost anywhere, as long
as they are not in combat, including serving on submarines and as Army
Rangers and Green Berets.
McKenna said women can also serve as Navy and Air Force pilots — as
long as they are in the air, and not on the ground.
Bradford the restriction on women being in combat is due to gender roles.
However, he said that if an individual crosses those as gender lines, he or she
needs to accept the consequences of that action.
For example, he said, if women were allowed to fight in ground combat,
they, would need to accept the fact that they could be drafted.
McKenna said that there are sev
eral militarily mandated require
ments that a woman would have to
meet to go into ground combat.
Some of the physical requirements
would be height, strong bone struc
ture and good upper-body strength.
A few of the other requirements
would be patriotism, passing cer
tain tests, intelligence and love for
the work.
McKenna said that when people
enter the military, they are tested
for their strengths. When McKen
na was tested, she was called into
her commanding officer’s office
and told that she had the highest
mechanical score of a woman to
date. She was told that if she were
a man, she would fix jet engines.
However, because she was a
woman, McKenna said, there were
only two jobs open to her — non-
combatant jobs.
McKenna recalled an instance in
which she was denied going on a
mission that offered higher pay be
cause she was a woman.
“They told me that it was not a
question that I could do my job,”
McKenna said. “They said it was
the fact that 1 was a woman [that
kept me from getting the mission].”
Bradford said that a popular
question is whether a female cap
tain should get paid the same
amount as a man who faces ground
combat. He said that people get
paid to put their lives on the line,
and the case of the USS Cole made
it obvious that there is a risk, even
for those in noncombatant roles.
Bradford said that the USS Cole
is the first instance in which a
woman was killed on a U.S. ship.
The Department of Defense has
been reluctant to allow women into
combat for a variety of reasons.
One popular theory put forth by the
Defense Department is that women
lower the morale of male soldiers
and decrease combat readiness. Of
ten cited is the example of one war
ship that returned from a tour of
duty with 15 percent of its female
sailors pregnant.
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