Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at George Washington University in Washington

Females in Integrated into Combat Roles? Ladies as Marine Corps warfighters. Ever since the beginning of time “man” has dominated the field of battle. However, in a historic decision made on 3 December, 2015, by Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened all combat jobs to women.  This announcement was to shock the world of combat arms.  Particularly, the United States Marine Corps, whom dedicated a large portion their budget to test the practicality of the new decree.  General Allen and General Dunnford have been very outspoken on the matter ever since the question was first raised on 2013.  There are many pros and cons to integrating females into combat.

Marine Corps General

Pros

-Equal opportunity for females

-Dispersed manpower requirements during large scale conflicts

-Dissolution of gender-based career barriers

Cons

-Female beauty taken advantage of by misogynistic peoples that do follow the Geneva Convention

-Physical and mental hard wiring different from male counterparts

-Fraternization among both sexes

Female Marines

One reason is the part post-traumatic stress would play in the life of someone that is looked on by society to care and nature children.  PTSD is a very real and prominent disorder suffered by many veterans after 10+ years of conflict.

Being in a kinetic combat zone degrades the moral fabric of every human being by challenging what leading psychologist call “the just world belief”. In a sense we become base creatures. This is a proven fact because of the freeze, flight, or fight response that is a product of the amygdala and the hippo-campus region of the brain. Basically the brain goes into survival mode and starts pumping adrenaline and cortisol throughout the body, increasing heart rate, blood flow to the muscles, and opens the lung up to receive more oxygen.

Our body has natural regulators that govern the amount of adrenaline and cortisol that are pumped into the body. An extreme combat situation can destroy this internal thermostat, which is the main reason for the anger and irritation that goes is a known product of PTSD. Females already have a lot going on regulating hormones inside their body once every month, throw in post-traumatic stress and you have a very volatile mixture. Not to mention Traumatic Brain Injury that comes from the concussive blast of Improvised Explosive Devices or Rocket Propelled Grenades. Some damage created from TBI is irreversible because of the axons that snap inside the outer layer of the brain. A byproduct to add to PTSD is insomnia and irritation. Women already have enough to deal with every month that would push someone to the breaking point.

KAJAKI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 17: U.S. Marine LCpl. Bryant Whalen of Brookfield, Wisconsin

KAJAKI, AFGHANISTAN RIP Cpl Jorge Villereal

There is also the factor of being reduced to base creatures.  Going through immense stress.  Or being in country for an extended period. Men and women alike will find a way to physically ease there stress, especially after moral erosion. Many coed units have issued Non-Judicial Punishments  for infidelity during deployment. Also, many females have been shipped back from deployment because of pregnancy. This totally compromises mission readiness, presents a grievous logistical challenge, and the unneeded allocation of wartime resources.

You must also factor in man’s primordial nature to protect his female counter-part. Whether they are physically involved or not, men have the natural urge to protect the female at all cost, by instinct. This instinctual urge does not make it fair on the battlefield at all and actually clouds sound judgment and the decision making process.

All in all, to avoid a conflict of interest and present equal opportunity, females should be given the chance to fight in an ALL female unit. In war we should not risk the lives of fellow service members, men and women alike, to proceed with an experiment that could cost many lives over time. As service members of this country, we should focus on defending the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. We do this by excelling on the field of battle.  When we enforce political correctness among our service members, by opening up “combat arms” professions, then you are dealing a severe blow to the morale and cohesion of the coed unit.

young Marines Marine Corps

This is a very important issue to think about.  Especially being engaged in a war with people that rape, murder, and traffic females.  We have an obligation, as Marines, not only to fight, but to win.  In this case, the Marines (who can draw on countless amount of combat experience) where the only ones to speak out to the Secretary of Defense on the issue.  We have poured our budget into the study.  The conclusion was that females were not physically capable of passing.  The Marine Corps opted against putting females into combat roles.  Only to have their decision overridden by the Defense Secretary.

Females in Integrated into Combat Roles?