American Women have been contributing their services to the male driven military since the beginning of its creation. However, their gender has prevented them from recognition and opportunities in combat operations even though they have been involved in such affairs indirectly. Women have proven time and time again that their service to military success is a necessity. Therefore, the 1994 ban on direct ground combat and assignment rule should be permanently lifted since women do possess the physical fitness required for combat, they are integral component of military success, and deserve to have recognition for the positions they have been ultimately serving in since the beginning of military history.
Allowing women into the infantry has been a continuing debate for well over 30 years. Many argue that females lack the physical fitness needed to be in the infantry and that their presence would have a negative effect on espirt de corps. However; these theories have never essentially been tested, nor have they been proven with other physically demanding occupations, like law enforcement and fire-fighting, in which females perform equally with their male counterparts. Graduation rates of the USMC and U.S. Army's 72 hour long final training exercises suggest that there are no differences in success for either male or female soldiers. There is also no creditable data to support that women negatively affect unit cohesion or espirt de corps. In actuality, scholars of countries where women have already been integrated into the infantry, such as Korea and Russia, report that their war victories could not have been accomplished without the efforts of their female infantry soldiers. The military has learned to accept changed and has dealt positively in the face of it as well. Just think, about 75 years ago, similar arguments were said about minorities serving within the ranks, and now, this once banned component, serve in some of the highest positions throughout the branches.
