The Marine Corps made history earlier this month when the first three women joined infantry units. The move comes in the midst of conversations regarding women 18 and older being required to register for Selective Service. In June, the Senate passed a $602 billion defense bill which featured a clause that would require women to register for the draft. However, the House of Representatives removed that requirement.

“I think a lot of women would argue that it is a step toward equality, and some people are amazed that it has not been implemented before,” Private First Class Christopher Beltran of the Army said. “[Women] are some of the strongest people I have ever seen and they really add a great dynamic to military service.”

Men ages 18-26 have had to sign up for the Selective Service System since 1940, when the United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 requiring all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft.

“Women are just as strong as men,” Sergeant Jonathan Vaccaro of the Air Force said. “I think it is good. In my field, I work with females side by side so I have seen what they can do. Females have passed Ranger School, so it is good for them.”

However, some on campus are very glad the bill did not gain enough support in the Senate to pass.

“I’m excited that I don’t have to [sign up for selective service], and I don’t think that [girls] should be required to sign up when they turn 18, that’s a stupid law,” junior Laurel Glatch said. “I think [signing up voluntarily] is how it should be, then it is their choice and they get to decide whether or not to put their life at risk or not, but I think that is great for women’s rights and for strengthening women’s powers and stuff, but it needs to be [the girl’s choice].”

There are very few ways to be marked exempt from Selective Service, and none of which would apply to the average high school student. If the Selective Service program is ever activated, most seniors and some juniors could be called on to serve in some capacity.

“I just think that it’s important for citizens to want to volunteer to serve, and to fight for our country, because that’s really important,” sophomore Emily Madden said. “But, I don’t think anyone should be forced to do it because there’s a bunch of different circumstances they could being going through and they may not be able to financially or family-wise leave their family and leave those circumstances to [serve].”

The Pentagon announced in 2016 that women would be given more ways to serve, and they would not be limited in their service by specific positions or ranks. For CTE teacher Kandy Stevens, any decision to join the military may be best left to a voluntary basis.

“I’m going to sound contradictory because [I grew] up wanting all the girls and women to have the same rights as men, and equal pay. It scares me the idea that my child could be drafted, my daughter could be drafted,” Stevens said. “I respect the rights of parents of young men that way too, as a teacher you can look around and you know there are young men who are sitting in your classes who are not physically capable or mentally capable of holding that position as well.”