Politics August 11, 2016
According to the Department of Defense’s website, in 2015 the female active duty members of the United States Military were 201, 400 in total. Broken up by branch there are: 68,900 women in the Army, 57,300 women in the Navy, 58,500 women in the Air Force, and 14,100 women in the Marines Corp. These numbers are the highest they have ever been in U.S. history, but women have always played a role in the defense and fight for our freedoms and liberties.
As far back as the Revolutionary War, women have been fighting an uphill battle to be included in what has historically been categorized as a male dominated battleground. The historical argument has been that women are not tough enough or naturally fierce enough to fight in battle. This has been negated by the fact that women in the military have had to double their fight; first, to be let into the boys club of the military and second, to participate in the fight against the actual enemy.
This double standard took a serious hit in 2016. One of the most important rulings in military history was made earlier this year as Defense Secretary Ash Carter, despite objection from the Marine Corp, ruled that all combat jobs, including special operations, are now equally available to women. This huge step forward means that women can now occupy 90 percent of all military positions, a number that is still 10 percent from equal, but much closer than 20 years ago. This ruling is making tidal wave sized ripple effects throughout all branches of the military, and as we celebrate this huge step for women-kind all over, we take a look back at how far women in the military have come.
Women have played a role in every major war America has fought going all the way back to the Revolutionary War: women worked alongside the U.S. Army as cooks, nurses, seamstresses and some even fought undercover as men and spies as they were not allowed to enlist as females. These brave women endured many of the same hardships of soldier life, though they were denied status and titles like their husbands and brothers received.
During the Civil War, though women were banned from enlisting, more than 400 women disguised themselves as men to fight in the Union and Confederate Armies. Those not undercover served as nurses and aides as well as spies and smugglers. An estimated 181 black nurses served in U.S. hospitals during the Civil War, one of the largest steps forward for women of color in military history.
During and following the Spanish-American war, the rise of typhoid fever created a need for highly trained nurses as an integral part of the military platoons. The Surgeon General agreed to enlist women into nurse positions under contract with the Army. Following the war, the Army established the Army Nurse Corps in 1901 to have a highly trained corps of nurses who were familiar with military regulations on call at all times. According to the Women in the Army History website, “…between 1898 and 1901, more than 1,500 women nurses signed governmental contracts and served in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, China, Japan and on the hospital ship Relief.” The contracts lasted for three years of service to the Army as a nurse, but women were still denied official titles as soldiers with these contracts. During the war, the need for on call nurses created the first all-female Reserve Corps in American history. These would be the first official military jobs available to women in the United States, though proper titles would not come until much later.
World War I saw the largest involvement of women in military actions to date with 35,000 women serving at home and abroad when America declared war on Germany in 1917. Women fought on the front-lines with the Army, Navy and Marines Corps throughout the war, and further supported the war from home by filling in the gaps of factory work and war support jobs as the effects of the Draft left the country understaffed and under-supported. The National Service School was established to train women in military duties for times of war and national disasters. There were no longer male and female jobs, only a nation trying to support itself through a war. This helped propel forward and pass the 19th Amendment to allow women the right to vote in 1919.
World War II saw the creation of the Women’s Army Corps and the Women’s Air Force Service pilots. These two establishments would change women in active service forever, as for the first time, the U.S. military recognized the need for women as an integral part of success on the battlefield. Following the war, President Truman signed the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act and the Executive Order 9981 that saw the integration of the WAC and Army Nurse Corps as an official part of the US military. EO 9981 established that equal treatment for women was required in all branches of the U.S. military. The years following WW II were influential in incorporating women into the U.S. military, and for the first time, women of all backgrounds could officially fight for their country.
After the Korean War, the WAC base was moved to Alaska where training facilities including an Army school and a a basic training battalion. This allowed the number of women enlisting to rise significantly. Following the War, the Army Uniform Board certified two green uniforms for female soldiers, making them more equal to their male counterparts. Women soldiers played a major role in the Vietnam War, though they were not utilized until 1962. President Lyndon Johnson granted the ability to have more than one woman in each service promoted to the status of colonel and general. Women were permitted to enlist in the Army National Guard during these formative years as the draft was revoked and America saw large gaps in the volunteer forces of its’ military. In 1972 the ban on commanding units requiring a male was lifted and women were permitted to finally serve in all military occupational specialties, even those requiring combat training and active duty.
After the Vietnam War, the end of the draft and rise of feminism saw a major shift in the treatment of women in the military as well as throughout the country. It was during the 1970s that mandatory defensive weapon training was included in all female soldier training, women were admitted to all service academies, female soldiers were authorized to serve overseas for the same amount of time as males, the first mixed gender class for a specialty skill was initiated and basic training units began integrating genders across all branches. It was at the end of one of the most influential decades in female military history that women’s abilities to assimilate to the demands of previously known “males only” service saw the end of the Women’s Army Corps, and the acknowledgment of women soldiers as equal to male.
Through the 1980s and 90s American Military Forces saw the integration of female soldiers. In 1979 Marcella Hayes became the first black female pilot in the U.S. Armed forces. In 1980, the first female cadets graduated from West Point. In subsequent years, Operation Urgent Fury was the first military assignment for women since the end of the WAC and women were permitted to fly helicopters in combat for the first time. The first woman to command troops in combat, Capt. Linda Bray, did so during Operation Just Cause in Panama, and the largest call up of female soldiers since WW II occurred during Operation Desert Storm.
Following the horrors of 9/11, the role of women in the American Military has seen important and necessary change. The 2000s have seen honors, awards and recognition passed out fairly to women in high ranks: Sargent Leigh Ann Hester was the first woman to receive the Silver Star for direct combat action, General Ann E. Dowd became the first female four star general, Colonel Stephanie Dawson became the first female brigade commander in the National Guard and the Defense Secretary’s ruling to open all combat jobs to women everywhere saw the first two women graduate from ArmyRanger school. In addition, approximately 37,100 military jobs that were not open to women previously are now accessible to all female soldiers.
Women soldiers have fought valiantly for these steps towards equality on the battlefield, in their bunks and on the home-front throughout American history.
