by Jamel Rogers, staff reporter

Women’s roles in the military have grown from women working as nurses and clerks during the Vietnam War to now serving as helicopter and fighter-jet pilots.

The United States Congress formally lifted the ban that prevented female soldiers and Marines from serving in direct ground combat roles on on January 31 in 2013, the decision last month to finally allow women in combat roles. This will allow hundreds of women to fight in front-line roles, direct combat positions and will potentially open elite command or special force positions to women.

The long fight for women to fight in combat has been in contemplation for decades. According to the Army Nation, women make up more than 14 percent of soldiers in the entire United States military.

“War should be fought by whom ever wants to put their life in harms way like that,” senior Anastasia Kalamaras said. “I think its about time women start to do more of what they want like fighting the war.”

However, not everyone believes that this is a place for women to be in. Women could not be mentally or physically prepared to go into combat.

“Women do not have an equal opportunity to survive or help fellow soldiers in a direct combat environment,” a recent bootcamp member Jason Kerry said.

With this momentous shift, America once again reconfirms its core values of equality and respect, values predicated upon a person’s capabilities and demonstrated actions, not an immutable characteristic like gender or discrimination.