Military women serving in war zones are now a common site around the world and their presence elicits little or no remark. Over time, the role of women in military has gradually evolved and today, women are involved in all branches of the armed forces. Traditionally, it was believed that women lacked the mental and physical toughness necessary to join the military but in modern militaries today; women have proven themselves to be worthy assets. Before women were allowed to enlist in the military, those who wanted to participate in the army had to cross dressed to disguise themselves as male soldiers. Today, the US military - ranked the strongest military has over 200,000 women in active-duty comprising 15% of the total active force ("DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications", 2020) . The numbers are far from a balance but this is also an indication of the significant progress made since the enlisting of the first woman Loretta Walsh in 1917 who is just one of the many women who made history in through various military accomplishments. This research paper looks into the evolution of women in the military starting from the first woman enlisted to the first one to fight in combat.
On March 17, 1917, Loretta Walsh became the first women to enlist in the U.S. military in a non-nurse capacity when she was enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve. However, it was not 1948 that women became permanent member of the US military. The passage of the Women Armed Services Integration marked the official absorption of women into the force and allowed them to hold regular and reserve status. However, the extent of women participation in the military was also restricted by the same Act. Among the restrictions were: no military branch could have more than 2% of women, general and admiral roles were reserved strictly for women, the bill established different enlistment standards and dependency entitlements for men and women, and women could not participate on combat missions on Navy ships or aircrafts (Devilbiss, 1990). Despite make women an integral part of the army, women were still not equal to their men counterparts.
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Until 1967, the rationalization of women continued despite there being an obvious shortfall in the number of personal required in the Vietnam War. Gender based restrictions were lifted as a result of the passage of the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment. On after the passage of the amendment that there was active engagement aimed at increasing the enlistment of women and for the first time in 1978, women were able to join the U.S. service academies. Navy women could be assigned duty abroad but only on noncombatant ships (Law, 1978). According to 1981 Court ruling on the exemption of women from certain military roles specifically in the Navy and the Air Force, the Court held that “women as group are not allowed in combat and the restrictions on the participation of women in combat in the Navy and Air Force are statutory” (Rostker v. Goldberg, 1981). Many gains had been made towards the integrating women into the military but a lot of these gains were rolled by President Reagan’s administration. Although women were still not in active combat, the number of enlisted women had grown exponentially. However, the Reagan administration wanted to level out the number of enlisted women to 65,000. A new risk rule came into effect in 1988 requiring the exclusion of women in noncombat missions where the risks of exposure to direct combat or hostile fire or capture equaled or were greater than the risk in the combat units they supported.
The law on combat exclusion was repealed by congress in 1991 followed by a raft of changes regarding the role of women in military. The Gulf war in 1991 saw the first deployment of female soldiers in roles such as combat pilots, a role that had not been served by women before. A 1993 order from President Bill Clinton opened combat aviation to female soldiers. Women could then compete for assignments to fly combat missions. However, in 1994, women were restricted from serving in units whose primary goal was ground combat. The unpredictability and nonlinear nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan exposed female soldiers to ground combat thus raising questions on the relevance of the ground combat exclusions.
Since the turn of the century, female soldiers have taken up more prominent roles. Women have gotten closer to active combat deployment while others have taken up leadership positions. Colonel Linda McTague was appointed the first female commander of a fighter squadron. In 2013, the law banning women from combat roles was lifted allowing the military a two year period within which they were to complete the integration of women. The 2015 decision to allow women is historic. The decision has allowed women to rise to the highest military ranks while opening up new positions for thousands of other female soldiers. Since the 2 nd World War, women in the military have come a long way. The perception on female soldiers has gradually changed and they have gained more acceptance as worthy soldiers. The limitations have been limited; everyone is entitled to the opportunity to for active combat regardless of their gender, but it is not everyone that can meet the qualifications to be a combat soldier ("Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles", 2013) . However, the evolution of women in the military is not yet complete but the U.S. military has made significant steps towards fully leveraging the power, intelligence, and influence of female soldier and leaders.
References
Devilbiss, M. C. (1990). Women and military service: A history, analysis, and overview of key issues . DIANE Publishing.
DoD Personnel, Workforce Reports & Publications. (2020). Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/dwp_reports.jsp#
Law, P. (1978). Law 95-485. Department of Defense Appropriation Authorization Act .
Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles. (2013). Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/military-leaders-lift-ban-on-women-in-combat-roles
Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 1981).
