Eg351 – Social Psychology Assignment 4

Not so long ago women were not allowed to serve in combat roles in the military. It was always believed they could not handle comabt this was passed in part on a few issues. First is the physcial deamnds placed on the body. A woman’s body is designed driffently than a mans. Secondly, is the ability to act tactically. In his book “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman “mentions that female soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been officially prohibited from serving in close combat military operations since 1948. The reason for removing female soldiers from the front lines was due less to the performance of female soldiers, and more due to the behavior of the male infantrymen after witnessing a woman wounded. The IDF saw a complete loss of control over soldiers who apparently experienced an uncontrollable, protective, instinctual aggression, severely degrading the unit's combat effectiveness.” (Grossman)

Historically women have been placed unofficially to serve alongside combat units. Military police units for example are always attached to infantry units to provide for security. Support supply and maintenance units are primarily made of women and are constantly assigned to work in or around combat units. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf in his Auto-biography It doesn’t take a hero mentions a story about a lone personnel clerk while delivering mail from the infantry unit she supported was ambushed and had to drive 10 to 20 miles in a disabled vehicle.( Schwarzkopf) If women can be assigned or attached unofficially to a combat unit why can they not just be assigned to a combat unit? On January 23, 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the military's ban on women serving in combat, which was instituted in 1994. It must be remembered however that not every woman is suited to the rigors of a combat unit. There are many men who are assigned to combat units that are not up to the