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Conclusion of women in military service
Conclusion of women in military service
Conclusion of women in military service
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Gender integration in the military has always faced the question of social acceptance, whether society can accept how women will be treated and respected in the military. Throughout the history of the military, our leadership has always sought ways in how to integrate without upsetting the general public if our females were captured as prisoners of war, raped, discriminated or even blown up in combat. My paper will discuss three situations pertaining to the first female submariner, fighter pilot and infantry graduate. I will also discuss some of the arguments that male military leaders and lawmakers opposed the integration of women: lack of strength, endurance, and the disruption of unit cohesion. I will end this paper with my personnel experience as a female NCO responsible for other female subordinates within my command and share some of their experiences while deployed in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The story of America’s military woman can be traced to the birth of our nation. During the American Revolutionary War, the 18th and 19th centuries, where women served informally as nurses, seamstresses, cooks, and even as spies and were subject to Army’s rules of Conduct. Though not in uniform, these women shared soldier’s hardships including inadequate housing and little compensation. Women have formally been part of the U.S Armed Forces since the Inception of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1973 the transition to the All-Volunteer Force marked a dramatic increase in the opportunities available for women to serve in the military. As of September 30, 2009, the total number of active duty women in the U.S was 203, 375, and women made up 14.3 percent of the U.s armed forces (Robinson). Women are a crucial role in c...
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Fellman, Sam. 3 Female Submariners Make History. New York: The Penguin Group, 2013. Navy Times: A Gannet Company. Web. Jan. & Feb. 2014. .
Raddatz, Martha. Female Fighter Pilot Breaks Gender Barriers. ABC News. Web. Sept. & Oct. 2012. .
Robinson, Amy L. TRADOC Leads Review of MOS Standards, gender Integration. Army Times. Web. July 2, 1013.
Seck, Hope H. First Female Marines to Graduate Infantry Training: 'It Takes Everything You Got'. Marines Times: A Gannett Company. Web. Nov. & Dec. 2013. .
Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
Women in the US Military - Civil War Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Men never see women fight in the war of World War II, every man thought women don’t have the strenght to go in a combat warfare. Well they were wrong, in World War II a woman name Lyudmila Pavlichenko served from 1941-1953 in the Soviet Union army as being assigned to the Red Army. She first had an option to be a nurse when coming into the military. Lyudmila refuses and wants to be a women to put her foot on the battlefield and fight. So she decided to become a sniper, about 2000 women had become a sniper in the Soviet Union. Even though Lyudmila was the first successful female to become a sniper, she killed over 300 soldiers but was close to the record of 500. What her action shows was that women are capable to fight in the war and females should also be in the front line instead of second class. Her actions will make every women remember her that every female should be part of something such as fighting in the war.
Since the resolution of World War II, the United States has been involved in over fifteen extensive military wars. Recent wars between Iraq and Afghanistan are being fought over several issues which affect women in both the United States and the other nations. While the military is often thought of a male dominated institution, women are present and affected all throughout the system as soldiers, caretakers, partners, and victims. Transnational feminists often fight against war due to the vulnerability that is placed on women during times of war. Despite often being overlooked, there is no doubt that women are heavily included in the devastating consequences of war.
Holden, H. M. (2003). The. American Women of Flight, Pilots and Pioneers. Berkley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Merryman, M. (1998).
In a 1944 magazine article, Eleanor Roosevelt claimed that American “women are serving actively in many ways in this war [World War II], and they are doing a grand job on both the fighting front and the home front.”1 While many women did indeed join the workforce in the 1940s, the extent and effects of their involvement were as contested during that time as they are today. Eleanor Roosevelt was correct, however, in her evaluation of the women who served on the fighting front. Although small in number due to inadequate recruitment, the women who left behind their homes and loved ones in order to enlist in the newly established Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp (WAAC), and later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), were deemed invaluable to the war effort.
In 1973, women began to grow in numbers in the All-Volunteer Force implemented under President Nixon. “In February 1988, Department of Defense (DoD) codified the Combat Exclusion Policy by adopting the ‘Risk Rule’”, (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg. 21, 22. The change of the feminine role in the civilian population has forced a review of their presence in the Armed Forces. These roles reviewed after the onset of the Exclusion Law in “1967 when the statutory strengths and grade limitations were lifted” (…GOA, pg 4) as well as in 1978 when positions available to women were expanded (…GOA). In 1992 and 1993 when the “Defense Authorization Acts were implemented, congress revoked the prohibition of women’s assignments to combat aircraft… and in January 1994 the ‘Risk Rule’ was rescinded” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg 22. With the 1994 change in the “Risk Rule”, assignments were available for females in all services to participate in all available positions. Exceptions of “assignments to units below the brigade level whose primary mission is direct ground combat” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg 22(ibid) were put in place.
A&E Television Networks, LLC. “American Women in World War II”. History. 2014. Web. 5 May 2014.
So as you can see, women in the United States Navy have proven that they do belong because many women have overcome gender-based biases, made great historical impact, and lead combat situations over men successfully.
Zeinert, Karen. Those Incredible Women of World War 2: The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Connecticut 1994
"Update: Women in the Military." Issues and Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 29 May 2007. Web.
With the advent of the 1920s and the signing of the Nineteenth Amendment came a rapid movement toward women’s rights. It sped up with the beginning of World War II where six million women went to work in military factories, producing ammunition and other military goods for the sixteen million troops fighting abroad. The end of the war brought the realization that American women could work just as hard and efficiently as American men. Thus the idea of feminism was born. From here, the momentum continued before taking a hit with the loss of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s. This only caused women to fight harder and soon a new generation of independent women arose in the early 1990s. Nowadays, self-sufficient women can be found everywhere as CEOs in companies like PepsiCo and Kraft Foods or as associate justices on the Supreme Court. However, all the strides taken thus far had its origins not in businesses or the government but in the military. Since Joan of Arc first picked up a sword to fight for the French, women have disguised themselves as men in order to fight for their country and for their own personal independence. For example, during the Civil War (1860-1865), nearly three hundred women fought bravely in support of both the Northern and Southern cause (Weiser). Yet despite their bravery, three hundred seems trivial next to the approximately three million male soldiers that fought next to them (Weiser). The majority of contributions came from the women who stayed within the societal boundaries of the time. Unfortunately, most accounts of women in the Civil War focus on the hidden soldiers and not the supporting housewives. With such a small amount of women defying the norm, one has to wonder to what extent did women ...
The military did not solely consist of front line warfare but Nurse Corps, Armed Services, and Aviators. Army and Navy Nurse Corps included 70,000 nurses in all its units combined. These nurses traveled to where ever they were needed and even served overseas in dangerous combat zones. The work these women did was not easy by any standards. Between dressing open wounds and administering medicine, nurses had little down time. Working and living conditions were horrid but despite this nurses continued to be successful in saving lives. The handiwork “These nurses contributed to the extremely low post-injury mortality rate among American military forces in every theater of the war. Overall, fewer than 4 percent of the American soldiers who received medical care in the field or underwent evacuation died from wounds or disease.” Nurses healed soldiers that would have died without their help. In this way, nurses contributed in the medical field more ways than men could. Participation of women in the Armed Forces was an important turning point in the relationship of women to the military. Some 350,000 women served, abroad and home, in the U.S. Armed Forces. Women were initially banned from jobs requiring physical strength such as serving in the armed forces. The recruiting process was intense and very selective especially for women. The Army’s “Ambitious recruiting goals were never met despite an
Both men and women fought on the battlefield. Hundreds of women served as nurses, laundresses, cooks and companions to the male soldiers in the Continental Army.6 In addition, there were some that actually engaged in battle. Seeing "no reason to believe that any consideration foreign to the purest patriotism,"7 Deborah Sampson put on men's clothing and called herself Robert Shirtliffe in order to enlist in the Army. "Robert Shirtliffe" fought courageously; "his" company defeated marauding Indians north of Ticonderoga.8 There is also the valiancy of the water carrier Mary Hays, otherwise known as Molly Pitcher, who took up arms after her husband fell.9 As a six-foot tall woman, Nancy Hart was considered an Amazon Warrior. Living in the Georgia frontier, this "War Woman" aimed and, with deadly accuracy, shot British soldiers who invaded the area.10 Mentioned in the beginning of this essay was Margaret Corbin, another woman on the battlefield.
Patten, Eileen, and Kim Parker. "Women in the U.S. Military: Growing Share, Distinctive Profile." Pew Research Centers Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. N.p., 22 Dec. 2001. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. .