Grade 11 Writing Prompt As of January 2016, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced all military occupations and positions will be open to women, without exception. Write a letter to the US Secretary of Defense arguing in support or against this new policy of every military job being open to women. Your essay must be based on ideas, concepts, and information from the passage set. Manage your time carefully so you can plan your essay write your essay revise and edit your essay Be sure to include a claim address counterclaims use evidence from multiple sources Do not over rely on one source.
Carter Opens All Military Occupations, Positions to Women By Cheryl Pellerin Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that beginning in January 2016, all military occupations will be open to women, without exception. They ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat," Carter added. "They ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that was previously open only to men." Since 2013, more than 111,000 occupations had been open to women, leaving 220,000 inaccessible. These included infantry (military units that fight on foot), armor, reconnaissance, and some special operations units. Mr. Carter asked civilian and military leaders from all branches of the military if there are any occupations that should not be opened to women. Most branches agreed that none should exclude women. Implementation won't happen overnight, Carter said. Fully integrating women into all military occupations will make the U.S. armed forces better and stronger but there will be problems to fix and challenges to overcome, he said. We shouldn't diminish that. The military has long prided itself on being a meritocracy, where those who serve are judged only on what they have to offer to help defend the country, Carter said. That s why we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known, he added, and it s one other way we will strive to ensure that the force of the future remains so, long into the future. Pellerin, Cheryl. Carter Opens All Military Occupations, Positions to Women. DoD News. Defense Media Activity. December 3, 2015. Web.
Seven Guidelines Used to Integrate Women into Combat Roles U.S. Department of Defense 1. Implementation will be pursued with the objective of improved effectiveness. 2. Leaders must assign tasks and jobs based on ability, not gender. 3. Equal opportunity likely will not mean equal participation by men and women in all specialties. 4. Studies conducted by the military indicate that on average there are physical and other differences between men and women, and implementation will take this into account. 5. The department will address the fact that some military members will perceive that integration could damage combat effectiveness. 6. Particularly in the specialties that are newly open to women, the performance of small teams is important. 7. The United States and some of its closest friends and allies are committed to having militaries that include men and women, but not all nations share this perspective. U.S. Department of Defense. Qtd. in Carter Opens All Military Occupations, Positions to Women. Cheryl Pellerin. 3 Dec. 2015. Web.
Women s Opportunity in the Military Prior to 2016
Miss District of Columbia Absolutely Nailed Her Interview Question Before Winning Miss USA By Cara Kelly Deshauna Barber had a mic drop moment during the 2016 Miss USA pageant. The Department of Commerce IT analyst and Army Reserve logistics commander didn t mince words when asked her thoughts on women in the military during the interview round of competition, and it earned her the title of Miss USA 2016. The Pentagon recently made the decision to open up all combat jobs to women, said judge Joe Zee. Now some have questioned if this has put political correctness over our military s ability to perform at the highest level. What are your thoughts? The newly crowned queen wasted no time with her impeccable response. As a woman in the United States Army, I think it is an amazing job by our government to allow women to integrate into every branch of the military, she said as the crowd erupted. We are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit I am powerful. I am dedicated, and it s important to recognize that gender does not limit us in the United States Army. Kelly, Cara. Miss District of Columbia Absolutely Nailed Her Interview Question before Winning Miss USA. USA Today. USA Today, 6 June 2016. Web.
The Women in Combat Debate Continued: Should Every Door Be Opened? By Jessica McLaughlin Despite being banned from certain combat roles, women served on the war front in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women can hold jobs on gun crews, air crews, and in seamanship specialties. Two military women were held prisoner in Desert Storm and three in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Regardless of the position, women are integral to the U.S. military. According to statistics from 2011, more than 200,000 women served in active military duty, including 69 generals and admirals. Women account for 14.5 percent of the military s active armed forces. Women are represented in leadership positions as well. More than seven percent of all generals and admirals are women. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there were 1,853,690 female veterans in the United States as of September 2011. The main argument against allowing women to hold combat positions is their physical capabilities. Many critics argue that they have the fullest respect for women and are not sexist in any way. When it comes down to it, women are not as strong as men. Male muscles and bones are denser. Critics argue that the endangerment of team members isn t worth the military being politically correct. In 2012, the Marine Corps opened its Infantry Officer Course to women on a trial basis. While 29 women have attempted the course, none have passed so far. The standards are high, and that is yet another argument against full integration. If you lower the standards to allow women to pass, you elevate the risk in the field. General Martin Dempsey, one of the nation s top military officers, started to question these high standards two years ago. He claimed, If we do decide that a particular standard is so high that a woman couldn t make it, the burden is now on the military to come back and explain, why is it that high? Does it really have to be that high? However, there are those that don t accept that argument. Some believe the military has decades of experience on which to base requirements. A final argument concerns longevity. Jessie Jane Duff, a retired Marine, links the ban on women in combat roles to women in the NFL. She states, There s simply too great a disparity in body mass and strength between NFL players and women, and the physical demands are too great Currently, women have higher rates of discharge for medical disability that prevents them from finishing their enlistment, or re-enlistment. Stress and muscular deterioration in women come on faster and harder due to the heavy gear and physical stress in the field environment. When it comes to strength and standards, the counterargument seems obvious: keep the standards universal. If you don t lower the standards and keep everything even for men and women, then that should silence critics at least against the physical arguments. Even though no women have passed the Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course, 150 women did graduate from the Marine Corps Infantry Training Battalion Course at the School of Infantry in North Carolina. These women passed with the same standards as the men. Although a woman hasn t yet passed the Officer Course, that doesn t mean it won t happen in the future. Allowing women to perform any combat role doesn t provide a free pass. A woman will have to earn it like any male counterpart. That could still mean zero female Marine Corps Officers, for example, but at least they get a shot at it. As for medial concerns, extra pre-training for muscle building can be required to reduce female injury rates. McLaughlin, Jessica. The Women in Combat Debate Continued: Should Every Door Be Opened? LawStreetMedia.com, 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 7 June 2016.