The Impact of Female Service Members on Gender-Integrated Ground Combat Units Cohesion

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW1

The Attitudes about Women in Combat1

Combat Support Training4

Gender Integration in the Military -Ground Combat Unit6

Deployment Circumstances8

Combat Exclusion Policy8

Women in Combat9

Combat Readiness10

Bonding and Cohesiveness11

Gender Integration on Cohesion12

REFERENCES13

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

The Attitudes about Women in Combat

It has always been disputed that the concern of technical skill is not a key issue to be thought about in the expansion of women's contribution in the combat. Gabriel and Savage state that the extended role of women in combat is founded on the wrong assumption that practical expertise is the main contributing aspect to the battle effectiveness of any military unit. The erroneous belief resides here. In fact, combat efficiency is just partially and possibly only a little part, the effect of well-applied practical skills. Nearly all expertise in the armed forces, particularly combat proficiencies are easy to learn by someone just in 6 to 8 weeks. However, armed unit effectiveness as well as cohesion are faraway the result of anthropologically and socio- psychological bonding, male bonding among the soldiers within their combat groups.

As stated by Ms. Williams in her book, woman at war are considered to be a scarce and desired commodity. Furthermore, she stated that even the unattractive and unwanted girls ten to attack stuck-ups (Williams, 2005). In her book, she not just covers the perception of military male, but also the perception and attitudes of male Iraqi people towards women at war.

It is argued by Dunivin (1994) that the military has many times justified the exclusion of women from the combat unit as a way for preserving the effectiveness of combat itself. Various scholars and researchers supporting the idea of making women as part of military combat believe that unit cohesion can be effectively implemented only in gender-integrated/ gender-diversified combat unit. Dunivin (1994) further argued that the exclusionary model for warriors' link males with superiority and normalcy creating female deficiency. Another example of negative aspects of the exclusionary model is highlighted by Edwin Dorn (1996), explaining congress about the policies and laws restricting and limiting women from particular assignments and projects. According to Dorn (1996), the exclusion rule in combats, reinforce and reflect extensive attitudes about the role played by women in militaries. He further bluntly states that women are not considered to be as real soldiers until they would be allowed to perform the duties that are being performed by the real soldiers, which includes killing and dying in combat (Dorn, 1996)

Studies conducted by Francke (197) and Hall and Ebbert (1993) observed that stereotypical beliefs related to women are directly affecting a soldier for performing successfully and efficiently. Stereotypical beliefs for being successful soldier are based on males, with rejecting the stereotypical qualities among women. The difference between the characteristics required for becoming successful in military and stereotypes of women have created negative perceptions and judgments about women if they tend to posses feminine characteristics and lack masculine characteristics. It is these stereotypical people who create ...