Expert: Douglas Dribben - 2/25/2001

Question
I would like to know if women should or shouldn't be be exempted , in wartime, from servng in combat? I would like pros and cons, and if there is a law against it or not.

Answer
You ask a question to which there is no definite answer.  The arguments on either side are voluminous and depend on who is making them.  In short summary, the agruments against women in combat include concerns about their physical fitness for the rigors of combat, the role of women in society, whether society is ready for female casualties, including victims, as POWs, of rape as well as assault, unit cohesion in formerly all-male units, the requirement physically and financially to reorganize and remodel facilities for mixed-gender units (currently, it is costing Department of Defense almost $1,000 per bathroom to remove the urinals and replace them with toilets on mixed-gender ships), the problems in discipline when men and women are in mixed units (both men and women have a tendency either to become too atrracted to others in the unit or to go the other way and antagonize others in the unit), for starters.  In favor of women in combat are society's views of women's roles and gender equality, the numbers of people in the available combat pool, the argument that some men cannot handle the rigors of combat while some women could, the ability of women to think differently than men in some situations, the physical attributes of women that make them more useful in some situations (ie smaller, generally, than men, more delicate fingers for better control of small equipment controls, etc), and the need to have women casualties so that society is not so willing to use the military in all situations.

Your question cannot really be adequately answered by me, as it would be merely my opinion.  To date, Congress has forbidden women in direct combat, but the modern battlefield is not so rigidly organized as before to allow women to be separated from combat.  If you are really interested in the reasons pro and con, research in the Congressional Record (available online in many places) the debates congress had when debating the Selective Service Act (the draft) and the opening of combat berths to women.  There is also a Supreme court case from the 1980s that discusses Congress' determination not to open combat arms to women, and finds that decision to be constitutional.  These sources should lead you to other sites that will better give you an answer than can I.

Good luck.