The ground combat exclusion put forward in 1994 restricted women from being assigned to particular combat units. Over the years, tireless efforts by different bodies and personalities advocating for the change of the old policy have not been fruitful, until the ban was lifted. In February 2013, a new policy was enacted; the policy allowed servicewomen to have equal chance, as their male counterparts, in training and in battleships. According to the old policy, women were discriminated on the premise that they do not have enough strength as men, to be allowed to be in ground combat posts. Attainment of new policy was not easy, and still there is a lot of criticism against the policy.
After the enactment of gender policy restriction in 1994, congress requested MLDC (military leadership diversity commission) to research and find out why women were denied their chance to serve nation. Later in 2011, MLCD tabled its findings, and recommended repealing of old policy. One year later, congress requested a review of the gender restriction policy. In January, women filled petition regarding gender bias in military, and after a hard struggle, service women earned their rights.
With endorsement of the new policy, women can now hold similar positions as men, and this is something which has been long overdue. The policy will enable women to be trained alongside their male counterparts, and rise through the ranks like their male counterparts. Previously, before the announcement of the new policy by pentagon, most of the women were associated with medical; 78% of women in the military were on the medical field, and only 22% were loosely associated with ground combat units. However, the 22%of women involved in ground combat did not received similar training as men(Justin,2013)
Therefore, the decision made by pentagon on the new policy was a step ahead to improve women’s working condition; it improves equality in the field. Although this is something to do with the military, the decision also affects other spheres of life since women have been sidelined in other areas of life. The bottom line is that women should be given equal chancesas men. Women in the military have been sidelined because ground combat is associated with physical strength, and a vast majority of people believe that women are not strong compared to men. However, if women are given similar training and equal opportunity to participate on the ground, they will adapt and adjust to the environment, hence performing much as equally as men. It is essential to note that there are women who train vigorously and appearto have gained the endurance required for ground combats.
The new policy brought sanity into the military as it gives gender equality a chance in one of the fields dominated by men. Unlike the preceding era whereby women and men did not train or share similar tasks, the new policy allows women and men to share similar assignments. Over the years, women in military were left of promotions due to lack of front line experience. The defense protocol, which stipulated on the women exclusion policy, allowed women to participate in any other position in military, with the exception of assignments at units or to the combat ground. This is something which shows how the policy discriminated women in military, and thankfully, it has been repealed.
References
Justin, F. (2013, January 24).Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/24/panetta-opens-combat-roles-to-women/
