If you have ever considered the military as a career choice, it’s likely that you have been confronted with debate about whether the military is “right” for women, especially in the areas of combat. Although women have been actively involved in the military for over a thousand years, the 20th century has seen a great increase in the numbers of women choosing a career in the armed forces. Many women worked on the home front during WWI and WWII, and that was the stereotype of the female role in the military — cooking, cleaning, mending clothes. But the truth is that the jobs women held covered a range of skills and abilities, including some involving the battlefield. Even though the rules prohibited women engaging in combat on land, some did take on jobs that were usually reserved for men, and a few even got the chance to fly fighter planes.

These days, the most common argument against women having equal opportunities in combat is their physical and psychological differences to men. Some say that this is not sexist, but a simple admission of the truth. If the standards of combat readiness are to be kept high throughout the armed forces, then everyone needs to keep to a minimum standard of strength and fitness. The argument against this, of course, is that some men are smaller than some women, and some women are stronger than some men. If an equal standard is the true goal, then why not let anyone sign up for whatever they want, and test them all equally? Whoever passes, passes, and whoever fails, fails, regardless of gender. Nonetheless, this is still an uphill battle, and something you will have to endure should you be interested in a combat role.

It goes without saying that if a woman can do the same job as a man and she wants that job, then she should be given the same opportunity that the man gets. No one is forcing anyone to join the military or sign up for combat, so if the woman chooses a job that will place her on the front lines and she has the physical and mental capacity to handle it, there is no reason why she should not be allowed to do so. It seems that the largest area of combat for women in the military is the battle against their colleagues. The mindset is changing slowly over time, but there are still plenty who would prefer the “traditional” way of doing things, where women are mostly kept out of “men’s jobs.” Women are in fact already performing roles at the front line, though, and the percentage of female combat soldiers will likely increase over time as more equality creeps into the system.

It’s impossible to tell what changes there will be to engagement scenarios over the next century or so, but with technology speeding forward as it does, things may soon become a lot more equal for women who want to try their hand in combat. Even today there are unmanned vehicles and weapons that can be operated remotely by anyone who has been trained, and whether it is a man or a woman hardly matters. If you want a career in the military, you will be joining a fine group of women who have helped pave the way before you, making female front-line roles more integrated than ever with the overall effort. You can, in turn, help pave the way further for those who will come after you.

It seems to be a moot point to continue to debate whether something should be allowed, when in fact it is already happening. Some people will say that women simply cannot have active combat roles or perform the same tasks as men, but the truth is they already do, if they choose so. They experience the same consequences of war as the men do, and they are not asking for special treatment or to have exceptions made for them. As attitude shifts catch up with technology, no doubt it will become even easier for women to take on an equal role in any aspect of the military they would like. Desk work, supportive roles, and even jobs on the front line are becoming more open to any qualified individual, and if you feel that individual could be you, there’s nothing to stop you from putting forth your best effort and doing your part to make a change in the status quo. It may not be the easiest road, but if it’s what you really want, there’s always an opportunity.