Alice Royer
English 015
May 5, 2014
Why women belong in combat. Women in combat are female soldiers assigned to combat positions. History suggests that the combat positions were initially assigned to male individuals. Over time, however, individual women serving in combat were usually disguised as men or in leadership positions as queens e.g. queen Boudicca. She led the Britons against Rome. Also, Joan of arc is a famous example. In the WWII (Second World War), hundreds of thousands of German and British women soldiers served in combat roles but only in anti-aircraft units. It is in these positions that they shot down hundreds of enemy fliers.
These positions were accepted because the women were safe of capture. The Soviet Union in large scale used women in the front lines as the medical staff and political officers. Sniper female units were used for female pilots and also combat fighter planes. In the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, a few women were used in combat roles, in the resistance movements. After 1945, all the women combat roles were sustained in all armies and their contributions were forgotten (Campbell 301-323). While the Australian government plans to open up women combat jobs in 2016, New Zealand offers no restriction on the women roles in their defense force. They can serve in infantry, artillery, armor and a special air service. Norway is the first known country to permit women to serve on its submarines. (This was in 1985) In fact, the first female commander of a Norwegian submarine was Kret Solveig in 1995. In Sweden, women can serve in any if not all positions in the military since 1989. Today, about 5.5 percent of the officers are women. In WWI and WWII (first and the Second World War), women served in many roles; for example, the Army Nurse Corps as well as the Women 's Army Corps. They carried out different tasks such as clerical work, photo analysis, mechanical work and sheet metal working. The
Cited: Campbell, Dann. “Women in Combat The World War II Experience in the US, Germany, Great Britain and the Soviet Union.” Journal of Military History. 1.57 (1993): 301-323. Print. March 17. 2014. Goodell, Maia B. “Physical-strength Rationales for De Jure: Exclusion of Women from Military Combat Positions.” Seattle University Law Review. 34 (2010): 17 Print. March, 17 2014 Holm, Jeanne. Women in Combat: The New Reality. (2003): 67-68. Print. March 17. 2014. William, Denn. “Women in Combat Can Strengthen Military.” The Washington Post. April 3. 2014. 34-70. Print. March 17. 2014.