Why Do Women Belonf In Combat - 2123 Words

Jocelyne Young Sime Dimou 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†¦show more content†¦Recent studies from Harvard Business School and MIT show that group intelligence of the group rises when women are on teams. Women contribute a unique level of ‘social sensitivity,’ the ability to read the emotions of other people. Social sensitivity is an important skill for military professions in today’s battlefields. Women can be so important in battle. One woman soldier that went to fight in Iraq said that, â€Å"most Iraq men were reluctant to speak to us in fear of the Al-Qaida. So we used Iraq women, as they were fed up with the violence and chaos in their neighborhoods. We persuaded them to provide information, though we had to first bridge the gender gap, build/make rapport and earn their individual trust, all of which took a lot of valuable time† (Denn 34-70). Having women in military platoons dramatically increases a military’s ability to elicit critical intelligence, which means a mission’s failure or success, with lives in the balance. Military forces should embed an all-female cultural support teams in their units, because all armies need the same skill set that women are adept at providing. Also, including women in the front-line units would be seen as more than an exercise in social equality. This would be a valuable enhancement of military effectiveness and national security. Women serving in close-combat roles