The Importance of Women Within The Army

The author, Frank A. Partlow, JR, is a colonel in the United States Army who wrote this scholarly article while working as a fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Throughout this article, Partlow displays his views regarding the importance of women within the Army. Essentially, Partlow demonstrates these ideas in three major sections in his piece titled Physical Capacity, Combat, and ties it together in the Conclusions section.

Within the Physical Capacity section, Partlow notes that the Army now takes into consideration both male and female physical strength and endurance capabilities, unlike in the years past. He then goes on to note that an individual's cardiorespiratory fitness, or ability for a person to perform at peak efficiency for a period of time, is irrelevant in regard to one’s sexual orientation. Any individual in the United States Army should be able to fulfil the nature of the assigned job, and he states that women are most physically similar to men in this capacity. Lastly, the Army’s recent policy review of women’s issues had established “gender free” tests to all recruits, so they do not get placed in a job that they’re physically incapable of doing.

A large part of Partlow’s article includes the role of women in combat. He disproves the popular belief that women are not well equipped physically, emotionally, and psychologically for combat roles by sharing evidence found that they have a higher pain threshold, perform better under sleepless conditions, and, in the past, survived prisoner of war incarnation better than men. All in all, both sexes have the mental toughness necessary to thrive in a combat unit, yet physical restrictions justifiably limit women to such positions. Partlow also shares his belief that integrated combat units will enhance the Army’s efficiency as a whole, taking into consideration the four relevant national security concerns involved with the women in combat issue discussed in this article.

Lastly, the Conclusions section of Partlow’s article reiterates his outlook that women in the U.S. Army should only be decided on the basis of national security and defense rather than societal equality among both genders. He believes that women must be treated with the same respect amongst their male comrades, and the Army must promote a “sincere, supportive top down belief in all its soldiers.” Furthermore, in my paper, I will use Partlow’s viewpoints regarding womanpower to enhance the validity of the just and unjust aspects of gender standards within the United States Army. His ideas offer a unique and scholarly outlook on the role of women, and I plan to incorporate his studies, direct quotes, and generalized points into my paper.