The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Women in combat sparks debate, implementation process under review

Staff Sergeant Joana Martinez leads a group of ROTC students, from Texas A&M-San Antonio, St. Mary’s University and The University of the Incarnate Word, through land navigation during their lab on Feb. 27 behind the UIW soccer field.

 

By Joe Camacho

A&M-San Antonio Master of Accounting student Alesha Heineman will be commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U. S. Army in May. Although she will not be assigned to a ground combat billet, she believes allowing women to have the option to serve in combat units will open opportunities for advancement.

Heineman, a self proclaimed “military brat,” said her father’s service in the Air Force and the amount of support from the military community she received growing up were two factors that led her to join the Army.

“We’ve only had 2 four-star Generals in the entire U.S. military history and a lot of that is due to combat roles,” Heineman said. “I feel like that will create a spot for women in the military to get to that level.”

On Jan. 24 former defense secretary Leon Panetta lifted a 1994 ban which said women could not be assigned to direct combat units.

The ban states: “Service members are eligible to be assigned to all positions for which they are qualified, except that women shall be excluded from assignment to units below the brigade level whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground.”

Since the announcement, opinion-editorial pieces have flooded the pages of news media outlets arguing for and against the lifting of the ban. Proponents of the ban lift argue equal opportunity for women. Those opposed debate over women’s physical strength and fitness for combat.

Here in San Antonio, coined “Military City USA” the issue is being discussed by students and residents. Heineman said lifting the ban credits women for roles they have been playing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In the past ten years, women have already been in combat. It’s not that we’re now just getting there from this ban,” Heineman explained.

Since 2001, women have played roles in combat where they were previously not seen. According to the Department of Defense, female troops have been attached to ground units in Iraq and Afghanistan for communication and security purposes.

Female military police, for instance, may be called into a hostile environment to pat down females detained by combat units.

According to the 2010 census data, over 200,000 women served in the armed forces. One-hundred and fifty women have died in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Jose Perales said he has no problem working with women outside of a combat environment but had a different opinion about women in combat roles.

Perales, a San Antonio College student, served in the United States Air Force as a gunner in a combat rescue unit from 2003 to 2009. He explained rescue missions he took part in involved women casualties.

“I’ve seen too many times where I’m out there in the field and women are injured and there’s a lot of guys out there risking their lives to try to save them,” Perales said.

Females were specifically targeted by hostile opponents, he explained. His position is that mission strategies were compromised in those situations.

“I feel that you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And I’m not saying that women are weak but when it comes to combat and these enemies of ours are attacking us, they go after our females first,” Perales said.

He also argued that women filling combat roles should be held to the same physical fitness standards as males.

Currently, physical fitness testing standards in all branches of services are different for women than for men.

For example, in the Marine Corps, women age 17-26 are required to hang from a pull-up bar for a minimum of 15 seconds, whereas men in the same age group are not required to hang but are required to do a minimum of three pull-ups. Women are required to complete a three-mile run in 31 minutes whereas men have 28 minutes to complete the same distance.

Kinesiology professor John Smith said past studies have shown genetics as a factor as to why men generally perform better in physical activities. Men are coded to have more lean mass, smith explained, “whereas women have less lean mass.”

Though, as technology and better methods for training have come about, Smith said, the performance gap between genders has narrowed.

“While the men are still improving a little, women are improving a lot,” Smith said.

In a 2001 research study by the American College of Sports Medicine, evidence showed over a six-month-period, women in a progressive resistance training program decreased the gender performance gap when compared to a group of men who did not undergo any training during the six-month-period.

Heineman said she recognizes there are differences of physical strength between genders but strength and physical fitness are not the issues.

“Maybe the female can’t carry around 65-pounds for five hours and twenty minutes,” Heineman said, but now the option is open.

“And that’s why the ban has been lifted,” Heineman said.

She is confident that the leadership training she received through the ROTC program has prepared her for any role that the Army offers.

Since early February, more than 14,000 ground combat positions have opened to women that were previously available only to men.

Gregory Robinson, S-2 officer for the U. S. Army San Antonio Recruiting Battalion also handles marketing and recruiting numbers. In a phone call, he said he had no knowledge of females being recruited into combat roles.

“I am sure there will be. There are some fine women in the Army who can handle it,” Robinson said.

In another phone call, Brian Lepley, U. S. Army Recruiting Command public affairs officer out of Fort Knox, Kentucky, clarified the reason for Robinson’s lack of knowledge.

Currently each service is conducting studies to decide how to best integrate the lifting of the ban, Lepley explained.

“It is gonna be years before we recruit women into those jobs,” Lepley said.

Today, women make up 14 percent of the U. S. military. The lifting of the ban is expected to be fully implemented by 2016 and is also expected to open up 237,000 positions to women that were previously only available to men.

Heineman said she is prepared to serve “25 plus” years in the Army, which means she will see firsthand how the lifting of the ban affects women in the military in the coming years.

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About the Author

Joseph Camacho
Joseph Camacho is the Multimedia Editor for The Mesquite. Previously, he served as the Mesquite’s Managing Editor and as a member of A&M-San Antonio’s Student Media Board. He has worked as a camera operator and student intern with NowcastSA.com and freelances as an audio/video engineer for local musicians and documentary filmmakers. He is a 2000 Southside High School graduate, attended Palo Alto College and served as a U.S. Marine. He is the father of two children, ages 3 and 7.

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