US Military: 'Women Are Very Much In Combat' -- The Guardian
How America's armed forces are leading the way.
The rules of the US armed forces over the deployment of women on the front line could not be more crystal clear. Set out in 1994, they allow women to work in all areas of the military, with the one exception of ground units engaging in direct combat.
The only problem is that this definition, admirably precise and legalistic though it is, has increasingly little to do with reality.
Read more ....
My Comment: I personally prefer women to be away from the front lines .... but .... in today's conflicts the front lines are everywhere, and the idea of keeping women away from conflict is not a realistic proposition. In addition, they are now defining roles that men may have problems to accomplish. Gathering intelligence from Muslim women in a village, interacting with the civilian population .... the list is long and important .... and no surprise, this work is having an impact on the battlefield.
But the section of this report from the Guardian that caught my attention was the last paragraph ....
The blurring of the lines is reflected in the baldest of statistics. In Iraq and Afghanistan, 125 US women have paid the ultimate price. Advocates of reform argue that the figure alone is enough to justify a rewriting of the rule book. If women are good enough to die for their country, they are good enough to be recognized for their sacrifice.
....indeed.