Good morning ladies and gentleman, my name is Nick C. and today my partners, Chris, Scott, John and I will argue that women in the Armed Forces should not be allowed to serve in combat. Chris will be the second speaker and will provide evidence in support of our argument, Scott will provide the cross-x, and John will rebut the pro team's argument.
In order to argue our point effectively we must define what combat is. The secretary of Defense defines direct ground combat as, (quote) "engaging an enemy on the ground with individual or crew served weapons, while being exposed to hostile fire and to a high probability of direct physical contact with the hostile force's personnel." Today's Armed Forces operate according to a rule that states, (quote) "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."(end quote).
Our group will argue that women in the military destroy the backbone of the military unit's cohesion. In order to have complete trust in your group members you must know that each member of the group is equally as strong. We will prove that women are unable to perform the physical demands of the military, and the military must lower the physical standards for women. Thus, women endanger the combat readiness of the group. They are more likely to have an injury, and they may become pregnant. Finally, we will argue that America will not accept the death of young women, young mothers, coming home from the battlefield in body bags.
There is good reason that our military forbids women from combat. More than ever, America, at war today, needs a strong and unified fighting force. The survival of our nation's liberty depends on it.