Ever since high school, the military has been a significant part of senior Amber Johnson’s life. She attended Carver Military Academy in Chicago, where as a junior, she asked her parents to sign her up for the military.

Amber then began working in the army reserves as a cargo specialist and has now been working in the reserves for five years. Certified in transportation, she is in charge of sending equipment overseas and making sure it gets there. During the school year, she travels to an Army reserve training facility, Fort Sheridan, for one weekend a month. In the summer, she completes missions across the country.

She entered the Army ROTC program as a junior at the University for advanced training. In May, she will graduate and be commissioned, therefore becoming a member of the officer corps where she will plan operations.

From there, Amber plans on making a career out of the military, hoping to eventually be a part of the intelligence field, which comprises agencies like the FBI and the CIA.

While those roles do not necessarily require being on the front line, the Pentagon’s decision last week to allow females to serve in direct combat allows Amber, and all other females in the military, to do so if they please. Options are paramount, and now females have all options open to them.

No longer are there limitations. Females and males can move around equally in military positions.

Will hordes of females rush to fill those positions that were previously closed to them? Maybe. Maybe not.

According to Amber, many of the opinions she has heard from her fellow cadets regarding the decision have been split, or neutral.

Many females entering the forces have a plan as to what they want to do that may not involve direct combat. And those females already serving in the military may be happy where they are.

But even if there is no big rush, even if we do not see a large increase in the number of females serving in direct-combat, that does not give anyone permission to say that the Pentagon’s decision was not a worthwhile one.

After all, the merit of gender equality is rarely one that is widely frowned upon.

To have the option to serve in direct combat is important, for, in my eyes, females should never be seen as less capable than men, in any regard.

But in the media frenzy that has followed this decision, it is obvious that not everyone sees eye-to-eye on this issue or understands it correctly.

Fact: Females’ body compositions are different than males’. On average, females have less muscle mass than males. 

Myth: This difference in composition will decrease the quality of the military’s frontline fighters.

In reality, there will be “gender-neutral occupational standards” for serving in direct-combat roles. If a male has to do 70 push-ups to qualify, so does a female.

Is this possible for females?

Heck yes it is. In high school, I beat many guys at the push-up fitness test, to their dismay. Now, I do have an athletic build and I work out when I can, but in no way do I consider myself an athlete. So, I can’t even imagine what feats those females in the ROTC program at the University, and those females in the military, are capable of. But what I do know is that it’s nothing less than males.

Fact: Females have different hygienic-needs than males.

Myth: This will affect the operations of missions.

Females know how to deal with their hygiene. Our business may be incomprehensible to males, but we are not living in ancient times; our hygienic needs are just a hiccup in our normal day-to-day routine. And when did a hiccup ever stop anybody from doing anything? Let females speak out on behalf of themselves, for males do not know first-hand what our needs are.

Whether or not females in the military want to serve in direct combat, across the board, they can now be seen as equals to their male counterparts.

And for those females who have already been serving in direct combat, they can now be recognized for their actions.

For Amber and all other females involved in the military, the sky is now the limit.

That is how it should be.

Kirsten is a sophomore in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].