I have two sons of age. One who enlisted into the military and is currently at Ft. Hood, and one who just turned 18 at the end of June. When they both turned 18, however, my family heard me tearfully celebrate with pride and woefully state how the state considers my sons to be more disposable than my daughter.
From the
Selective Service System government website in the U.S.
I have another son at 16 and a daughter at 14. I, for one, would like to see equality in the laws for all my children. This has been challenged in the courts for at least the last two decades, however I wonder what can be done with the military budget and organization/protocols to ensure equality for both genders.
First, congratulations to your son for his choice (something I respect). Second, I'll have to look this up because it's been a while since I chose my fiancé over the marines, but I believe that women are prohibited from combat jobs, from Special Forces and SEALs to infantry. In other words, I believe that the draft protocol isn't the only US military inequality, but I'll have to confirm and get some specifics.
EDIT: Well that was interesting. Apparently, women have been allowed by law (not policy) to be in any military position whatsoever at least since 1990, and for the most part earlier. However, until 2013, the DOD policy in place and without any plans to change it precluded women from serving "units, below the brigade level, whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on ground" or basically from serving in combat units ("infantry, artillery, armor, combat engineers, and special operations units of battalion size or smaller"). This policy was called the "Direct Combat Assignment Rule" (DCAR), but is being eliminated. On in the early months of 2013, the various branches were required to submit memoranda that included a plan for integration of women into DCAs. The requirement is to complete this by Jan. 1 2013 (which is ridiculous; it takes less than 2 hours to watch
G. I. Jane, and she went through BUD/S).
Interestingly, thanks to previous military restructuring, all special operations units were for the most part put under the command of SOCOM or USSOCOM (Special ops command). The marines didn't like this, and so Force Recon and I believe FAST too didn't fall under SOCOM control, but other SOF marine units were created and now do, alongside Special Forces, SEALs, the Rangers, 160th SOA regiment, and whatever names groups like ISA or delta are going by these days.
Which means that that the virtually all the most difficult (mentally, physically, emotionally, and psychologically) stressful training courses that exist in the US military are required for each of the individual special operation units which all fall under the command of Admiral McRaven. And therefore he has to do, in "collaboration" with the various defense secretaries (because military branches aren't at all competitive, and especially not the upper level commands), what all the branches are required to do: integrate this new policy. However, the only units that are under SOCOM's command are the elite units, and every unit member has already passed the basic training and more required to be in the military branch they are already in. To be in the unit under SOCOM, they have to do a great deal more. So the heads of SOCOM, after all that work restructuring the US SOF units under one roof, now are responsible for integrating females into the units that 99% of males couldn't get into (including non-service members). I can just feel the political cogs in the various political machines turning. But they "made there own beds" in a number of ways here, so now they get to sleep in them.
