Women in the United States Marine Corps

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, although their numbers are still disappointingly small, military women now serve with distinction in every service. It examines how women are still prohibited from direct combat and how this factor, more than any other, leaves women at a distinct disadvantage in military service, particularly in the U.S. Marine Corps. It shows how hostility and backward attitudes toward pregnancy also impede the integration of women in the Marines. It evaluates how, as the requirement for physical strength and skills has lessened as technology has modernized combat, studies show that women with correct training could perform traditional male duties in the military. It also shows how discontinuance of segregationist policies in training and work might help reduce the degree of discrimination and sexual harassment to which women are currently subjected.

From the Paper:

"The Marine Corps has the smallest percentage of women largely because a higher proportion of Marines than members of the other services are serving in combat roles. Presently, ninety-two percent of all military specialties in the armed forces are open to women. Positions closed to women are in areas of direct combat which is defined as a position well forward on the battlefield where there is a high probably of physical combat. Thus, women are excluded from the infantry and Special Forces, two areas that offer higher pay and the greatest opportunity for rapid advancement. In addition, there have been recent moves to ban women from the new reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition teams."

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