ies of the individual person. A 1994 poll of enlisted men showed that roughly 25% agreed that women who were given the same training as men would make "just as good front-line soldiers" (Stiehm 92). An intensive training and conditioning program could certainly bring women closer to meeting the military's physical requirements.The second consideration is the fact that in today's high tech society soldiers very rarely come in direct contact with the enemy. In fact, it is estimated that "fewer than ten percent of military positions require actual infantry duty" ("What Jobs" 846). Computers, unmanned aircraft and satellites are rapidly replacing troops, tanks and airplanes in preparing battle strategies (Hillen 17). In this perspective, size, strength and physical characteristics are irrelevant. Intelligence, intuition and technology have replaced agility, strength and guns as the essential weapons of war. Nevertheless, any further progress for women in the military is impossible without the support of military personnel and the American public. There are too many arguments, most of which are beyond the scope of this paper, against streamlining men and women in military combat positions. The biggest issue is that women get pregnant, even in the military, and this presents certain physical restrictions. However, when the issue becomes the voluntary placement of women in combat positions, public support rises. In a 1991 Newsweek poll, 53% of Americans stated that they would support voluntary combat assignments for women as opposed to 23% if the assignment was involuntary (Nantais and Lee 185). Providing the opportunity for women to volunteer for combat positions would certainly alleviate the arguments centered around motherhood and family obligations. Pete Williams, spokesman for the Secretary of Defense, was quoted, "One of the lessons we've learned from Operation Desert Storm is the extent to which the nation accepted t...
