Should women serve in combat roles?

(NewsNation) — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, sparking contention implicit Hegseth's acquisition and his comments astir women successful combat.

The Defense Secretary nominee has said helium doesn't judge women should service connected the beforehand lines successful combat roles, raising the anticipation helium could effort to rotation backmost policies that let women successful those jobs.

Former U.S. Army Sgt. Kayla Williams served connected the beforehand lines successful Iraq arsenic a linguist. She told NewsNation that astatine the time, women were constricted successful presumption of combat roles, which made her enactment much challenging.

"We cognize that what truly didn't enactment was to not person women straight assigned to these units, to person women similar maine conscionable beryllium attached truthful we hadn't trained arsenic we fought," she said. "I didn't cognize their modular operating procedures. Those programs that had to beryllium stood up similar the taste enactment teams to capable that spread were conscionable inadequate."

Williams said it is indispensable that women beryllium capable to articulation the subject successful each aspects, particularly erstwhile the work is facing a recruiting shortage.

Former U.S. Army Maj. Chase Spears disagrees, saying that portion women person proven they tin conscionable the carnal standards required for combat roles, they are built otherwise and inactive shouldn't beryllium eligible to capable those positions.

"The question is, tin women endure the modular time aft day, week aft week, period aft month," Spears said.

Spears claimed women bash poorly successful combat roles and said inclusion hasn't made the subject much lethal.

Williams noted that portion women whitethorn not ever beryllium arsenic beardown arsenic men, they bring antithetic skills to the array that tin besides beryllium critical, similar agility.

"We cognize from examples similar the pistillate precocious completing the Appalachian Trail many, galore hours faster than anyone other ever has, that women person existent advantages erstwhile it comes to endurance," she said.