Female Engagement Teams Do What Men Cannot

While many people still object to women in war zones and argue that women aren't as fit as men to be in the military, this New York Times article confirms what many of us know to be true. Not only are women as capable as their counterparts, there are simply some things in Afghanistan, at least, that women can do that men cannot.

Interacting with and earning the trust of Afghan women and children, who are prohibited from interacting with men outside of their families, is one of them. Specially trained women Marine "female engagement teams" (affectionately called "FETs") are following the success of teams like the Lionesses, who were used to search women at checkpoints in Iraq (among other duties), and other ad hoc groups pulled from jobs like cook and bomb disposal to talk with local women who would rather die than let strange men into their compounds.

When you are trying to convince people that you want to help them (admittedly after fighting war in their country for nigh on a decade) you can't do so by ignoring half of their population. The shortage of female interpreters (thanks in part are due to DADT) and medics/corpsman makes these female engagement teams vital. These women Marines are able to get in to get information on who needs food and humanitarian aid, establish contact with people who view our troops as walking human rockets, and have even encouraged some of Afghan women to interact with the male medical staff or interpreters from the other side of a mud wall while maintaining the modesty that is important to their culture.

The program is working. It is doing what it was intended to do, building bridges with the community. And this engagement can reap serious tactical rewards, since some of the women and children are related to men with information on the Taliban.

I find it telling that military is willing to sidestep laws that say that women cannot be assigned to combat arms units and give them specialized training when it serves their purposes. However, ask Congress to approve legislation that helps those same women reap the benefits of that work, and those in charge seem to be dragging their heels all the way.

My main point, I suppose, is that women, despite what they accomplish and prove as far as ability, seem to remain little more than tools of the master. Never really receiving proper recognition or care, women can nonetheless conveniently to be tossed into whatever situation arises that requires a new weapon. It's all fine and good as long as they don't have to be actually treated like everyone else, huh?

Women will keep working hard, and doing these jobs, without proper recognition, because they enlisted and trained hard to do jobs that would make a difference. They want to serve in these jobs that discrimination keeps them from being "officially" assigned to, meaning they often cannot use this service as grounds for advancing their careers or receiving VA benefits. But don't they deserve more respect than this?

Photo credit: isafmedia