Women allowed to serve in front line combat positions.

[DubaiSis]

With the way modern warfare is conducted today, specifying a difference between front line and anywhere else in theatre is kind of ridiculous. We no longer line them up and blow them down, thank dog. This way at least the women put in harm's way will get paid and acknowledged as such.

Do I want ME doing this? Certainly not, and neither do you (the gun would be too heavy, to say nothing of all the other tremendous strength they need). But women who volunteer and complete the training should be allowed to do the work.

[DGTess]

I spent over 22 years in the military. I was the first woman assigned to my career field (not because of strength/standards, but because the military used the "we don't have appropriate housing available for women" lines for many years).

I applaud the decision; it acknowledges the fact that women have been in combat for years and years.

Strength, agility, mental preparation, and training standards vary by career field, and it takes dozens of career fields to present a strong fighting force. Some require more or less of these factors.

The standards MUST be set realistically. Not realistically for men, or for women, but for the minimum required to do the job. Minimum because there must be no question - if you can't meet the standard, you can't do the job. Maybe you can work on it and try again later, but you can't do the job.

There is nothing some women cannot do.

[carnation]

I can think of some women who would be great on the front lines, lol. And one is a little bitty 13-year-old I'm teaching.

[honeychile]

I'm fine with it, as long as quotas aren't set. What we need are people who can do the job properly, not fill an artificial quota.