Friday, April 19, 2013

SISTER'S IN ARMS


In “Sisters in Arms” James Dao talks about how the U.S military is lifting the ban on women trying to be in combat. And what would happen to the nation’s armed forces.

May 15 is when the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines have until to submit plans about carrying out the policy. 200,000 jobs should now open to women. Armed services are now trying to develop “gender-neutral standards” for all of the jobs. The Pentagon said that they vowed not to lower the standard for women to join combat units. The Army allows women to pass their fitness test with fewer push-ups than men and slower two-mile run. Women make up 15 percent of the 1.4 million U.S military. 18,000 women are currently deployed to Afghanistan.

People question on whether women have physical strength for tasks such as walking for miles and wearing heavy armor. Also carrying packs that weigh 100 pounds. Sergeant Pearsall said, “I didn’t sit around thinking: I’m a women; I don’t think I can carry this gun. And I can’t speak for the men but I feel that when bullets were flying, they didn’t care that I was a woman, as long as I was pulling the trigger.

I think it’s a good idea to open women up to joining the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. But I don’t think that it’s a good Idea to lower the standard rate just because there women. If women want to join the Army I think that they should be able to do whatever men could do, or even better. Women shouldn’t get the special treated just because there women. I think if they did get the special treated, men should too.

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