The idea of women serving in combat has never been an easy one for the American public.  Opinions are tightly held and more often than not a discussion on women in combat quickly degenerates into a screaming match.  The issue of whether American women should be put in harm’s way is hotly debated all the way from the corner bar to the halls of Congress.  But, for al the time spent debating the issue, the reality is that American women are serving in combat.  American women are serving along side their male counterparts and dying beside them as well.  Politicians, pundits and professors can debate the issue al they want, but women are already in combat. 

The current policy is that women are not allowed to serve in combat arms units such as infantry and artillery.  But women are allowed to serve in combat zones.  Women are fighter pilots, medics, military police and work in countless other military specialties that are needed on the front lines.  There are more than 350,000 women serving in the united States military.  Women make up fifteen percent of active duty personnel.  One in seven service members in Iraq are women.  While women service members are still excluded form certain military occupations, they are essential for others.   For example, female troops are needed to perform searches on Iraqi women.  The very presence of female service members has helped defuse a potentially catastrophic cultural clash between Unites States troops and the Iraqi muslim population. 

Women are also serving in the Iraqi military.  The cultural traditions and customs which had kept Iraqi women out of sight and less active participants in public life are slowly giving way to a more equal society.  The Iraqi army hired its first squad of twenty female soldiers in July, 2003.   Iraqi women are embracing the new freedoms available to them and in many cases using those freedoms to serve their country. 

The debate about whether women belong in combat is one that needs to be had.  But we also need to remember that our daughters, wives, mothers and sisters are already fighting for this country.  Draw whatever philosophical lines you like in the sand about combat and non-combat assignments, but the reality doesn’t change.  American women serve and die for this country.  Gender has no influence on patriotism or heroism.  When the call to defend this nation comes, the women of America are just as capable and just as determined to win the fight.