Stereotypes Of Women In The Army Essay

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The primary mission of the Infantry battalion is to close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver. Its purpose is to destroy or capture him, to repel his assaults by fire, close combat, and counterattack, or all of these (Headquarters, 2006, pp. 1-1). The notion that a hand to hand combat situation may arise during ground force operations is uppermost in the mindset of every infantryman. Facing your enemy eye to eye is one of the most intimate moments any soldier could face during battle and men have been the “face” of that very thought. Our society has always put women up on a pedestal, as so many have thought that to be accurate. To take them off that pedestal and put them in the middle of ground operations has been the concern for so many years. The future is here and now and our government has decided to change the culture everyone is so accustomed to knowing.
Stereotypes have been placed on women’s ability to “keep up” with men in regards to their physical abilities. The Army Physical Fitness Test comprises of two minutes of both push-ups and sit-ups and a two-mile run. A 25-year-old male can earn a perfect score by completing 75 push-ups, 80 sit-ups and a 13:00 minute two-mile run. On the opposite side, a 25-year-old female can earn a perfect score by completing 46 push-ups, 80 sit-ups and a 15:36 minute two mile run (Army, 2006-2014). These male standards are including all MOS’s and are not synonymous with just the infantry. The vast difference is one of the main points that infantrymen have in regards to not allowing females into the infantry. The “unwritten” standards are very much more than what is technically required by regulations. The military is “one of the most masculinist institutions in American society. A masculinist institution is one that is dominated both by men and by cultural attitudes traditionally inculcated into men, such as a rejection of any signs of weakness” (Weitz, 2015, p. 165). The infantry dates back to June 14, 1775, and has been the cornerstone of the American fighting force. The “front line” warriors that you see depicted in movies like Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers. The brutal nature of war was shown at it’s worst and as bad as it was to see a young man lose his life in combat, imagine a woman in some of those scenes. Perhaps the least understood and yet most significant component of tactical combat effectiveness is small-unit cohesion: the “Band of Brothers” factor (COL Rice, 2015, p. 52). Unit cohesion in the infantry is unlike any other MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) in the Army. These men go through rigorous training on a daily basis. If they are cold, they
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29). When looking at the steps needed to integrate women in the infantry and other ground combat MOS’s, the government failed to look at the cohesion aspect and based their decisions solely on public pressure for equality.
There are seven Army Values that every soldier lives by and they are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. These values are the cornerstone of what is right in the world and every soldier should embrace this shift in our Army and continue to follow the Army Values that we live on a daily

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