Today we have a guest blogger who is an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. This is part one of a three part series on his view about women in combat.
Source: tv.msnbc.com
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. One of the latest hot topics is should women be placed in combat jobs. I would like to address my thoughts in a 3 part series where I hope to guide you down the path of my thoughts and experiences.
Part 1 ~ Is This Really What You Want.
Let me set the context of my argument by saying I am a man who has served in the United States Marine Corps since 1990. I have served in the Infantry during my Enlisted (rank) years before receiving my commission as an Officer.
In my lifetime I have been close enough to have been touched by the Vietnam War and deployed repeatedly to Iraq in our recent War on terror. Through time, experience, education and, what I consider, spiritual enlightenment, I’ve come to my present position regarding ‘Women Serving In Combat roles’.
During my generation of war (Iraq/Afghanistan) women have always served in combat. The jobs involving logistics (transportation, supply, support, etc) have historically been filled by women. Being placed in this job field often means women run the repeated risk of being ambushed during vehicle convoys and on military bases where we believe we are safest. A question was once posed as to whether women could/should be fighter pilots and for years the ‘good ole males’ said ‘No’ mainly because we wanted to maintain the status quo and keep this gloried job to ourselves. Time and education demonstrated women could perform equally to the task of flying whether it be cargo, support or attack aircraft. The inclusion of women busted this myth and we now reap the fruits of our enlightenment. So I think one question could be should women serve on the Front Line? The ‘Front Line’ has changed over the years as combat has transitioned from symmetrical to asymmetrical. No longer do we sit on one side of the street and attack the enemy on the other side. In today’s warfare the Front Lines are all around us so being way behind the front line, where women have historically served, is a matter of perspective. The ‘rear area’ can mean you simply reside in the heart of the combat zone because the Front Line is all around you. Nurses, cooks, mechanics, military police, even clerks can find themselves in a combat situation at a moment’s notice. The Marine Corps standard is ‘Every Marine a Rifle’ speaks to our mindset that at any moment we (male and female) can be called into action to serve on some front line; be it to retrieve a fallen comrade on the field of battle or defending your compound or Forward Operating Base. Every female Marine must be prepared to stand up and take charge during the chaos of war. For you see, the Gods of War and Combat knows no gender; nor do they care. As a society have we grown weak when it comes to waging war? Let us not forget that combat is savage, brutal and a Combatant’s sole purpose is to “kill” the enemy in the most efficient manner that will allow him(her) to move on to the next objective. Sometimes efficiency comes in the form of a missile or rocket, bombs and bullets. And sometimes it comes in the savagery spawned from thrusting a knife into the body of your enemy or strangling him ‘or her’ until life no long exists. To truly move forward in this conversation we must face ourselves in the mirror. Is this what women are saying they want?
Eddie Wheeler is a Major in the United States Marine Corps, who enjoys sports and spending time with his family.
Hi Eddie! First off, let me thank you for your service. My hubs is retired MSgt in the USAF so I do have a lil background in the military family life. Secondly, I’ve always been a firm believer that a woman can do anything she puts her mind too, however, and this may sound shallow, I don’t believe a mother should serve. Deployments are hard enough on a family when it’s a man, let alone a woman. Again, it may be shallow of me but that’s my opinion.
Thank you again for your sacrifices. Great to see you here at Whitney’s place.
Brenda recently posted..Testing MailChimp Integration
Brenda (and bloggers),
Thank you for taking time to respond. This is new to me but I felt compelled to open up, intelligently, on this topic instead of my usual internalizing. I don’t think you’re shallow for expressing how you feel. No one can tell you your feelings are wrong because that is how you feel. They might say you drew the wrong conclusion but they can’t tell you what you’re feeling is right or wrong. I can understand your perspective about mothers. I believe mother possess a unique ability to teach love and compassion. Men have this ability as well but I think women were granted with a greater skill in this gift then men. Our gifts help us achieve our purpose in life. To me this is the same as making an investment. Taking this specific gift, that a woman has (like currency), away from spending it on our children and instead investing it in a system (War and Combat) that does nothing to increase that investment equates to throwing your money away. Maybe that is why we’re moving toward a less compassionate society; women prepared for war while having the compassion bred out of them. Is this what we really want?
Hello! I’m stopping by from SITS and what a wonderful surprise in A) this blog overall and B) this post. I too would like to thank you for your service and sacrifice. I think the women in combat is such a tricky issue because yes, we want equal rights and yes we can do everything a guy can do, but I too thought we were already on the front lines. I’m not in the military, nor is anyone in my immediate family so on this debate, I’m fine with watching from the sidelines because I don’t have the proper perspective to say one way or the other. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy being enlightened by people such as yourself. Thank you for the insight.
She’sWrite recently posted..Talking About Race With My Biracial 5-Year-Old
Thank you for visiting from SITS, this post was awesome, very proud of the content and Eddie’s honesty. I think we should get him to write more often, what do you ladies think?
SW,
Aren’t you ladies always right? Because we can do a thing does not necessarily mean we should do a thing? This is not a military situation but a life situation. Let’s step out of the military for a second and ask ‘should we allow women in professional football or rugby’? Be careful, even Cheerleaders get hit while on the sidelines
I blogged about the Lingerie league last year, it was a mess….
this isn’t a subject i’d touch with a ten-foot pole, however, i do appreciate Whitney’s courageousness for opening the floor to allow the discussion to take place.
miss donna recently posted..money-saving style minute | BOGO
That’s why I didn’t touch it, I never even considered the subject. We usually keep it light around here, good info though.
Great information and thank you, Whitney, for allowing Eddie to bring his perspective to CMR! Eddie, thank you for your service and dedication to our country.
Your points on exactly where the “front lines” are these days is so valid. I think many people still envision the Vietnam movies where the enemy is 10 feet away and soldiers are shooting from the trenches. In this era, our military forces are fighting battles in so many different arenas and that needs to be recognized in this debate.
I’m so torn on this debate. I listened callers debate this on a radio show while sitting in traffic earlier this week and I can see both sides of the coin and the middle ground, too. Looking forward to parts 2 and 3.
Michelle recently posted..#26Acts … Remembering Jessica
He loves talking about being in the military.