“As a combat-experienced Marine officer, and a female, I am here to tell you that we are not all created equal, and attempting to place females in the infantry will not improve the Marine Corps as the Nation’s force-in-readiness or improve our national security … I am confident that should the Marine Corps attempt to fully integrate women into the infantry, we as an institution are going to experience a colossal increase in crippling and career-ending medical conditions for females.”~~ Captain Katie Petronio, US Marine Corps, Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is planning to announce later today that the Pentagon is lifting the ban on women in combat. This decision could open more than 230-thousand battlefront posts to women who represent 14 percent (196,000) of the 1.4 million active military personnel.
The military services will have until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women. This move overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units.
Although this means a lot for opportunities for women, many women serving in the military believe that their physical abilities are not at par with men and this will create many gender-specific medical issues and overall physical strain.
Captain Katie Petronio said she suffered from “restless leg syndrome, severe muscle atrophy and infertility resulting from 10-month and seven-month deployments, to Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively.
An excerpt from her article supports this concern: “I can say from firsthand experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not just emotion, that we haven’t even begun to analyze and comprehend the gender-specific medical issues and overall physical toll continuous combat operations will have on females.”
What do you think? Is this the right move for our country’s military?
Additional resources:
- Panetta to lift ban on women in combat, FoxNews
- Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal, The Marine Corps Times.
- Capt. Katie Petronio: Women Shouldn’t Be In Infantry: We Are Not All Created Equal Video on YouVideo
- Few female Marines step forward for infantry, Washington Times
Comments