Editor's note: Sgt. Shane Donahue is a Behavioral Health NCO at Fort Bliss, Texas, who as a leader has worked with and supervised female soldiers. The views expressed here are his own.
With the decision by Defense Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to allow the rest of the military jobs formerly closed to women now open, this marks yet another historic move by our military in the right direction.
In a time whenre we now fight asymmetric warfare we need an asymmetric military. The mood of discontent in the military with this decision is already tangible and at the same time is a disgrace.
By voicing your negative opinions about women in combat arms, first of all you are discrediting every female in the last 14-plus years that has deployed and been exposed to combat, i.e. medics for one example, and has performed with excellence.
Not only as a Soldier but as an NCO, if you are given a directive by higher leadership that you are uncomfortable with then it simply becomes a matter of adapt and overcome. If you cannot then you have in fact become a part of the problem.
As a noncommissioned officer you should be an expert in your job, and you should be a master in the art of training your Soldiers. By voicing discontent with females who may at some point be in your unit you have already fostered a negative environment.
Sgt. Shane Donahue
Photo Credit: Courtesy Sgt. Shane Donahue
This is not an issue of equality; this is an issue of exposure. The reason being is the critics of the decision of women in combat roles often cite injuries, the use of profiles to get out of physical fitness, road marches, etc.
By having to enforce a stricter standard to vet out females who may not be qualified for the job, this will also put males under the microscope. For example, the countless male sergeants, staff sergeants, and sergeants first class that are on profile, overweight and cannot pass an Army Physical Fitness Test.
Let’s look at history. Throughout history, especially World War II, females have been employed as warfighters. Lyudmila Liudmyla Mykhailivna Pavlichenko, a female in the Red Army, had a total of 309 kills including 39 enemy snipers. Another more modern example is Cpl. Sarah Bushbye, a female medic in the British Army who was awarded the Military Cross for 'extreme courage.' The Daily Mail cites her in an is citied in their article as saying "Sarah Bushbye sprang into action to treat four soldiers severely injured in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. Disregarding her own safety, she ignored the grave risk of roadside bombs and heavy gunfire to dash more than 100 metres across open ground to reach the fallen men."
If you have one strong standard for everyone, there should be no concern of females in combat roles. Bushbye Sarah is quoted as saying "‘But it’s all about your training. If you get good training, you can get through just about any situation. I was nervous coming up to the scene, but when I was at the scene I forgot about everything and just did my job."
With that being said, if a female becomes part of your unit, do your job and train and lead your Soldiers, because last time I checked we are all Soldiers, and if you are as good at your job as you think, then I would think that all your Soldiers would be highly trained.
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