The regulations regarding women in combat are complex. There is no blanket law that prohibits women from serving in combat there are only statutes, which do not apply to the Army, that specify women may not serve on ships or aircraft engaged in combat missions. This causes confusion amongst the armed forces. The task has been left up to the individual services to define what jobs are closed to women. The statutory restrictions on women in the U.S. military are as follows:

A. Title 10, U.S.C. 6015 applies to the Navy and Marine Corps. It states:

"Women may not be assigned duty on vessels or in aircraft that are engaged in combat missions nor ma

A 1978 DOD response a congressional report, the Department of Defense defined "close combat" as "engaging an enemy with individual or crew-served weapons while being exposed to direct enemy fire, a high probability of direct physical contact with the enemy's personnel, and a substantial risk of capture." The Army used this definition to determine the positions and branches that would be closed to Army women

 U.S. Department of Defense, Task Force on Women in the military, Jan 1989

 DOD News Briefing Edwin Dorn "Sexual harassment study" 2 Jul 96

Questions were brought about equal training. Can women train with the same standards as men? These questions were raised in West Point due to gender differences in training. The most common complaint by the male cadets and midshipmen was the lowering of physical standards. The women could not keep up. That was not the only problem encountered. Other allowances were made for the women. Women were thought to need more privacy than men and so were issued shower curtains though men were not, and of course none of the women had their heads shaved. The substitution of classes boxing and wrestling in karate and self- defense for classes in had more to do with what the academies thought becoming of women, than what physical risks the sports presented to them. It didn't seem to matter that the purpose of training men to box and wrestle was to develop physical courage and aggressiveness, neither of which was achieved by most of the alternatives offered to women.

Since the Marine Corps is a part of the Department of Navy, it is required to adhere to the restrictions of Section 6015. In addition, Marine Corps policy prohibits the assignment of women Marines to any unit within which they would likely become engaged in direct combat operations with the enemy, or to any assignment that has been designated by the Secretary of the Navy as requiring "an armed combat trained Marine."

B. Title 10, U.S.C. 8549 applies to the Air Force. It states:

"Female members of the Air Force, except those designated under section 8067 of this title, or appointed with a view to designation under that section, may not be assigned to duty in aircraft engaged in combat missions. (The exceptions designated under Section 8067 are medical and dental professionals, and chaplains and other professionals.)"

There are questions regarding if a woman would be able to handle being a prisoner of war. Pregnancies are unlikely for prisoners of war (POW) because of the stress and poor diet generally associated with the POW environment, most if not all of the women would experience amenorrhea and be incapable of pregnancy. It has also been proven that overly protective male prisoners may be adversely affected in their judgment because women are present, thus causing them to take a course of action or to refrain from taking a course of action (i.e., escape) which they otherwise would have done differently. Many fear the enemy will capitalize on the situation, using torture and threats against the women as a technique to break the men's resistance. The potential for love affairs and sexual relations among the male and female prisoners and the effects of these relationships on fellow prisoners may create problems. Possibly dissension and fights would occur; morale and unity could be threatened by the creation of "love triangles." The more immediate concern would be the exploitation of the relationship by the enemy. One of the female officers who was held during desert storm as a POW said that if she got raped as a prisoner, that it was just an "occupational hazard", give me a break!

 DoD report "Military Women in the DoD' Vol. VIII, July 1990

Some common words found in the essay are:
Presidential Commission, West Africa, Fitness Test, Navy Army, United America, Air Force, Direct Combat, VIII July, Desert Storm, Risk Rule, direct combat, title 10 usc, title 10, 10 usc, combat missions, women military, armed forces, close combat, women combat, military women,  title 10, department defense, engaged combat missions, aircraft engaged combat, 10 usc 8549,
Approximate Word count = 2560
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)