Moreover, as Sayle (2014) points out, there is a sufficient number of real-life cases demonstrating that women are just as capable as their male counterparts to kill their enemy in combat. A perfect example is that of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the female Soviet sniper during WWII who killed 309 people, 36 of whom were German snipers (Sayle, 2014)
In their study seeking to determine the propensity (by gender) to enlist in combat roles in the military, Segal and his colleagues (2008) found that only 8.1% of the women interviewed would like to work in the military (Segal et al
The researcher sought to identify positive and negative statements put forth by media articles about women in service and the impact of integration on military effectiveness. The study established that the positive statements about integration and women in combat among members of the general public exceeded negative ones by almost 69% (Stachowitsch, 2013)
Chapter Three: Research Methodology Why a Qualitative Approach: the study made use of a qualitative approach in seeking answers to the research questions. The overriding aim of any research is to gather intelligence and bring to light behaviors/trends that are yet to be illuminated (Weathington et al
Their5 study sought to examine the attitudes of military-affiliated college students (those currently in Reserve Officers' Training Corps, ROTC) towards women in combat, and how these differed from those held by college students in civilian colleges. 254 students from civilian colleges were recruited to participate compared to 62 military-affiliated students (Young & Nauta, 2013)
Look no further that Canada's new defense minister, a Sikh who served three tours in Afghanistan. He was called the single greatest intelligence asset -- as a brown-skinned man with a turban and insights into gang recruiting he gained access to local communities in ways other soldiers could not (Khandaker, 2015)
The fact that the military has become more technical in nature, with substantially less infantry work than in previous generations, has opened up more possibilities for females to serve, but the debate continues with respect to combat roles. Since the 2001 deployment in Afghanistan, 130 women have died in military service and over 800 have been wounded (Olson, 2015)
Alderman (1992) provides a succinct analysis of the nature of war. He posits that in order to fully understand the nature of war, one needs to break down the process of war into three dimensions: the biological element of war, the psychological element of war, and the algebraic element of war (Alderman, 1992)
These two illustrations perfectly support the view that unit cohesion is a function of leadership more than it is of team composition (Egnell, 2014) In a separate study, Bartone and his colleagues (2002) expressed that besides leadership, training and competence were also key to ensuring unit cohesion in gender-mixed teams. They studied the factors influencing team cohesion among Norwegian officer Cadets, and found that previous familiarity between team members and shared experience of stressful exercise together had a strong effect on group cohesion (Bartone et al
According to Burton (1998), the decision on how to distribute women across the division is a tough one and could have a significant effect on combat effectiveness. He argues that commanders are faced with two options -- to either concentrate women in one subunit or to distribute them across the division as a whole (Burton, 1998)
If the mission is not being accomplished, the unit is ineffective (Frum, 2013, n.pag) A second concern surrounding the integration of women into ground combat roles is that such integration could jeopardize male soldiers' abilities to 'put the mission before the man' (Christopher, n
In her essay titled, 'Women at Arms: The Combat Controversy', Francine D'Amico (1996) presents the argument that excluding women from combat roles is irrelevant since women are already proven combatants. She argues that in the modern-day battlefield, the line between combat and combat-related jobs has become increasingly blurred as weapon ranges and troop mobility have increased substantially (D'Amico, 1996)
Egnell (2014) supports this view, expressing that although sexual relations are inevitable whenever men and women are kept in close contact for prolonged periods, effective unit leadership could go a long way to ensure that group cohesion is not ruined as a result. In his view, therefore, unit cohesion is a function of leadership and cohesion more than it is one of team composition (Egnell, 2014)
In his article titled, 'The Truth about Women in Combat,' Frum (2013) opines that integrating women into ground combat roles would encourage sexual relationships, thereby ruining unit cohesion and consequently, combat readiness. He points out that as expected, the number of women will be way less than that of men, causing the band of brothers to begin competing among themselves for the few available women; in the end, social cohesion within the team is ruined (Frum, 2013)
Women in Combat: The Effect of Integration on CI/HUMINT Collection Introduction The success of any counterinsurgency operation depends partly on the effectiveness of the human intelligence function driving the operation. Simply stated, intelligence is foreknowledge that assists military forces in organizing themselves for optimal employment (Giglio, 2013)
On the tactical front, intelligence can provide forces with crucial insight on the performance envelopes of missiles, thereby aiding them in planning how to refine fighter tactics to out-maneuver the same. At the operational level, intelligence could help forces understand and engage enemy command elements or other operationally significant targets, thereby incapacitating rebel forces (Goh, Hao & Tay, 2008)
Effect on Combat Effectiveness Besides unit cohesion, it is believed that the integration of women in ground combat roles would have an effect on combat effectiveness. Combat effectiveness can be defined simply as the ability of a military force to realize its intended objective (Harrell & Miller, 2997)
Harries-Jenkins (2002), for instance, found no direct evidence to prove that such integration would impact negatively on combat effectiveness. He posits that women have served in combat roles during the Persian Gulf War and even in the recent war in Iraq; they were taken prisoner, wounded and killed, just like their male counterparts, yet there is no indication that they affected the military's overall level of effectiveness (Harries-Jenkins, 2002)
In addition to the questions of unit cohesion and combat effectiveness, researchers have raised concern about the personal health of women in military units. The most common of these concerns have touched on the mental health of women (Hoglund & Schwartz, 2014) and their reproductive health (Yanovich & Moran, 2011; Manski et al
A Source of Emotional Support to other Crew Members Besides providing support to local populations during combat operations, women have also been shown to be a source of emotional and psychological support for their male crew members. In her book, 'Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq' Holmstedt (2008) mentions that most infantrymen during the Iraqi war preferred to confide in, and talk to women about issues in their personal lives more than their male counterparts (Holmstedt, 2008)