By Shelbey White
It’s in the newspaper and all over websites, the military announced they aren’t excluding women from infantry and combat positions anymore. The military will open jobs for female troops so they can be in direct combat. There are still going to be restrictions, because not all policies will be opened up at once. Once the policy has gone through, there will be an “assessment phase” and each job will be examined to open up as many jobs as possible to women.
Examinations will occur checking on physical ability and standards and also reporting their improvement frequently. With women getting more jobs, they are eligible to receive the same recognition as males in the military.
Senior Mark Wenzl is in the Army National Guard and thinks it is awesome that women are able to join the military and have the option to be in infantry. “It’s really cool that their freedoms are being expanded. It’s a good thing because you don’t have many military men who choose infantry as their Military Occupational Service,” Wenzl said. “This allows women to do infantry if they want to, so we gain more people who are willing to risk their lives for our country.”
Derrek Ashmore (12) is enlisting in active duty army. He also plans on working up to become a drill sergeant or towards Army Ranger school and hopes to make it a career for the rest of his life. “Some might say women aren’t as strong or brave as men, while others say the exact opposite,” Ashmore said. “Bringing them into infantry will bring more diversity of ideas and techniques which can’t do anything but help. Though they could help out in the infantry, I do think there are other jobs that would fit the majority of enlisted women, just due to the general skills and abilities that they have or might not have compared to men. Women should be allowed into the infantry if they want to. There’s a lot the military can gain, and not much to lose so they should be allowed in the infantry, they can only help.”
Along with Wenzl, senior Andrew Algood is also in the Army National Guard. “I think it is a good change, because we will have both genders serving in the same combat role. As a soldier I have seen female soldiers prove themselves in combat situations. Some others think that women can’t handle the stress, but I would talk to female soldiers who have been in combat as military police, combat medics, and pilots, and they have been in combat zones as well.” Algood said. “I think this will be good for the military because we will have a fully integrated force by 2016.”
