Women have only been serving in the U.S. military officials between 1901 and 1908, when the Army and Navy Nurse Corps were established. According to infoplease.com, The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps allowed women to enlist during World War I, with women holding 12,000 positions in the armed forces as contract and volunteer nurses. Since then, more than 165,000 women are enlisted and active in the armed services with over 35,000 additional women serving, meaning that as of 2015, women make up about 15 percent of the U.S. military. Although these services are equally as important as any other military position, it appears that the military is not confident in women’s leadership or combat service potential.

Little progress has been made in the process of integrating women into jobs they already qualify for, let alone making it possible for women to hold other positions. Some argue that the current standards need to be re-designed in a gender-neutral direction when considering the physical screening test that requires deadlifting 135 pounds, benching 115 pounds, carrying 95 pounds for 50 meters while wearing full combat gear, loading a 120mm tank round and scaling a 7-foot wall. The military is using the same that standards that men are training to and inviting women to participate. But if a woman can succeed in this training course, does that make the physical screening test an accurate representation of the skills needed for military positions?

The problem that women are facing is that they are not even able to get into the schools to confront standards set by men. Ranger School still remains closed to women even though the program is not strictly for infantry soldiers. Continuing to exclude women from accessing this elite leadership school keeps female marines from realizing her full potential. If a Marine can get the job done and meet the physical standards required of that job, they should receive the same opportunities as any other marine, regardless of gender.