by Alison Jerabek

Created on: March 02, 2008

The military draft is a highly debated and hotly protested subject in a country whose military strength relies on a strictly volunteer force. In our culture of fierce individualism and self government, the right to choose what we will do with our bodies and our lives is an essential, tightly held principle. The very concept of a draft grates on the freedom we hold dear, yet, we know that in extreme circumstances where a threat to our security and our way of life cannot be dealt with our current military, a draft maybe a necessary measure, if not the only way, to secure our future. Traditionally, a military draft consists of all eligible young male citizens of a country being called to serve. However, due to our current culture of gender equality and equal standing of men and women in our society, a pressing question has arose. If a draft were invoked, should our young women be required to serve as well?

Women have the same citizenship rights as any man, and have proven that they are capable of making a valuable contribution to our government. It has been argued, if an individual can vote, so shouldn't they be required to fulfill the undesirable responsibilities of citizenship as well, like a draft? The problems with this logic are numerous. We aren't discussing whether women should be required to report for jury duty, or whether they should stand trial under the same laws as men, we are talking about a task that requires a high level of physical stamina that is often beyond the average citizen's ability to attain. But, you may say, there is no assurance that all men who are drafted will become able soldiers, nor is there any proof that women don't make good soldiers.

Although many women have achieved mental and financial equality with men, we have never been able to change the biological reality of our species. Women are fundamentally different in structure than men and cannot compare in physical competition. As a woman who has served in the military, I can testify to this fact. I have dealt with the physical and emotional challenges that come with being a soldier,* and no matter how hard I trained, or how hard I pushed myself, I was never able to match the physical capabilities of my male counterparts. Therefore, being a female soldier requires an extra level of dedication and fortitude to simply overcome the physical demands. At the end of the day, you are much more likely to be able to take the average American male and train him to the level of physical ability necessary to survive and succeed in a combat environment in a short amount of time than the average female. In addition, even when women are trained to the highest level of combat readiness possible, in a true combat situation, when pitted against a male adversary, most, if not all, female soldiers will lose a hand-to-hand fight. Which leads us to the second argument-much of our military force is composed of support personnel, who, under ideal circumstances, never set foot in a combat situation, and there is no reason why a drafted woman would not be able to fill these positions instead of a direct combat role.

So what, then, is the problem with drafting women as well as men?

Quite simply, there are no guarantees in a war zone. Recent history has proven that the enemy does not differentiate between infantryman or surgeon, and though you may enter a war as a engineer or a nurse or a supply clerk, ultimately, (especially during a crisis so drastic that it calls for a draft), every service member must be prepared for the worse case scenario of war- combat.

*I use the term soldier generically throughout this article to refer to both soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors.

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