Women in the US Military - Research Paper Example

Women in the US Military Introduction Overtime and particularly in the last century, the roles played by women in the Army have been quite imperative, especially since the onset of the American Revolution. The generation of the service of women to the US Army can be dated as back as the year 1775, and have continued to do so to-date. Women brought water to the soldiers, provided the soldiers with food and clothes, and also served as nurses, roles that were considered auxiliary (Simon 154). These services that they played were not formally included in the list of roles for the uniformed personnel. However, women were not formally included in the military but, continued to play these roles up in anticipation of the phase of the Civil War or during the 20th Century. Ever since, women have assumed powerful positions in the defense system of America, and currently a good number of them play crucial roles in the Army operations and seem to be more dedicated and willing to share in the great sacrifice of protecting the nation. In this essay, I have sought to exemplify the historical contribution of women in the US military, as well as the roles women have played in the US Military. This shall be through the analysis of the concept based on various dynamic sub-titles (Zeigler & Gregory 145). Women as nurses in military During the Spanish-American war conducted in 1898, thousands of American soldiers had yellow fever, typhoid, and malaria (“Highlights in the”). The Army Medical Department had to deal with too much but, with limited resources. Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) were assigned the task of selecting qualified and professional nurses to serve the US Army upon the suggestion of Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee to the Army Surgeon General. Army hospitals appointed 1500 civilian contract nurses before the end of the war in different regions including Hawaii, the US, Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Cuba, and the Hospital Ship Relief. Dr. McGee was made the Acting Assistant Surgeon General who was asked to write legislation for the establishment of permanent nurses’ corps in the US Army. It is around the 20th century that the US government realized the role of women and the Pentagon allowed for their inclusion in the battlefield since they realized gender mattered less in war. Among the requirements for the inclusion of women into the army in the earliest times was that they were required to masquerade themselves as men, and use aliases of men’s names in order to be enlisted in the Army, especially at around the period of World War I. For instance, about 12,000 women were enlisted in this war with the numbers increasing to about 350,000 women in the World War II. However, in these two wars the women mostly played the roles of nursing by attending to the wounded soldiers. This they achieved by serving in organizations like the American Red Cross Society and the United Services Organizations (Strebe 89). Deployment of women in the combat zone The number of American women that participated in the First World War was over 35000 (“Early Women Soldiers”). As a result of war, American military forces saw a shortage of male recruits. That was when the US Navy and Marine Corps actively solicited women to serve in the combat troops in an attempt to fill up the gap. Thousands of women applied for positions as Marine Corps Yeoman whereas the call of Navy to become Yeomanettes was responded to by over 11,000 women (“Early Women Soldiers”). In 2013, long-stayed ban on the inclusion of women in the combat positions was lifted. The lifting of this prohibition can be accredited to the fact that women today are an integral part of the US military and have been showing their interest in undertaking physically demanding roles in military as tough as performance in the combat zone. Women in the American army have found themselves increasingly in the combat’s reality during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It's clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military's mission of defending the nation…The fact is that American women are already serving in harm's way today all over the world and in every branch of our armed forces…Many have made the ultimate sacrifice, and our nation owes them a deep debt of gratitude” (Panetta cited in “Military leaders lift”). Timeline of women in the military (“Timeline: Women in”) in DoSomething.org provides a detailed account of women in military through a timeline as shown below. 1846-1848 Elizabeth Newcume, a woman got enlisted in the Mexican-American war posing as a man. She covered a distance of 600 miles with the infantry before getting identified as a woman and being discharged for that. When she was discharged, the Congress paid for her land and money for sustenance to show that the government recognized the role of women in the war. 1861-1865 Women nursed the soldiers that were wounded in the American Civil War, but still did not have military status. 1901 America established the Army Nurse Corps, whereas the Navy Nurse Corps was established eight years after that. 1917-1918 Armed forces started to consider assignment of administrative roles to women like the roles of stenographers and operators. In addition to that, two women became members of the Coast Guard for the first time. 1941-1945 During the Second World War, armed forces finally enlisted and included women in almost every job, which was not combat support or combat. June 12, 1948 The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed by President Truman. This Act established a permanent place for women in every branch of the military. As a result of this Act, military was made one of the first organizations to provide women with pay equal to the pay of men in all tasks assigned to the women employees. However, there was an upper limit to which women could be promoted in the military; lieutenant colonel was the highest rank a woman could get in those days. In addition to that, women were required to leave military after becoming mothers, and women could not earn above 2 per cent of the overall military November 8 1967 The government waived a range of restrictions on the women serving in military. After this point in time, women could get promotion up to as well as beyond the rank of lieutenant colonel, and were able to make up above 2 per cent of the military. 1970-1976 For the first time, women got promoted to the ranks of Brigadier Generals, and were succeeded by the incidences of more equal opportunity advancements. Women could apply for recruitment into the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) that provided them with an opportunity of getting funds for their college education. Women were allowed by the military to keep serving even after having children. Draft for men to serve was terminated by the military. Women then had more opportunities of job as the All Volunteer Force. Congress established a number of military academies for women including the Air Force Academy and West Point. These academies provided women with access to the best educational institutions in America. 1982 The first woman was admitted by the Air Force to the Test Pilot School. Women were not allowed by the Marine Corps to serve in the position of embassy guards. 1990-1991 Women were officially allowed to fly in combat in the Persian Gulf during America’s War. 1993 Women were authorized by Congress to perform their duties on the combat duty ships. 2008 A woman was promoted to the rank of four-star general for the first time. November 2009 Major General Anthony Cucolo of the army announced his intentions of punishing women that became pregnant under his command in Iraq Cucolo had to retract his policy after his statement received public backlash. 2011 Australia allowed military women to be in any position they are capable of including combat. Media outlets are exerting pressure upon the US to make it unite with other countries in offering women access to the opportunity of serving in every combat position. Women in World War I Nearly half of the women serving in the armed forces of the US during the First World War were from the Army Nurse Corps. These women rendered heroic services in the station and camp hospitals both nationally and abroad. These women worked at or close to the front on many occasions like their predecessors from the Civil War and the Spanish American War. Women in the military lived in makeshift tents and bunkers and had very little comforts. While taking care of civilians and the soldiers, these women experienced the debilitating effects of the mustard gas used during the First World War. Women in World War II During the Second World War, the number of Army nurses serving overseas and stateside was over 60000. These women were kept distant from the combat zone, but the Japanese army captured 67 American women in 1942 in the Philippines and kept them as POWs. Dr. Margaret Craighill was the first female doctor who was made commissioned officer in the Medical Corps of the US Amy in 1943. Congress instituted the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in May 1942 which was later called the Women’s Army Corps and was assigned complete military status. By 1945, the number of WACs had increased to more than 100,000 and the number of female officers was nearly 6,000 (“American Women in”). Reasons for increased women’s participation in military Increase in the number of women serving in the armed forces of the US firstly reflects an external social change and secondly a conscious effort on the part of the military to identify and integrate such change in the American society. Another reason for the increase in the number of women serving in the US military is that the negative effect of the war in Vietnam, the traditional anti-military perceptions held by the society, and advancement toward an all-volunteer force calls for intensification of the search for personnel on the part of the military. Women also happen to be a good choice for the US military because they are voluntarily recruited. Besides, “the changing character of the military establishment, together with its great emphasis on administration, logistics, and the like, plus its increasing emphasis on deterrence…alter the organizational milieu of the armed forces and potentially broaden sex roles in a direction favorable to women” (Goldman 892). The state of women involvement in the US Military today The statistical figures that are present indicate that the proportion of women who form part of the US Army comprise about 14%. As of the year 2012, the available figures released by the US Army indicate that the women numbers currently stand at approximately 165,000 women, who are active in service. Of this figure, nearly 35,000 of them are serving as Army Officers. As compared to previous periods when the role or inclusion of women into the army was temporal and based on a specific assignment of tasks, the US Government through the Pentagon announced in the year 2012 that the women would be directly organized into battalions. As such, women would be assigned critical roles such as being tank mechanics or radio operators in a battalion. While the women have served in these positions and others such as medics before, the announcement by the Pentagon made this official. However, women are still not allowed to serve as members of combat tank units, infantry, and special operations commando units. As time goes, this ban is also seen being lifted, especially as is seen by the directive from the Joint Chief of Staff Chairman, General Martin Dempsey in the year 2013, to have the ban lifted and allow women to serve in combat. According to the statement, the change is considered to be gradual with all Army units and branches given up to 2016 to adopt the new policy. Conclusion The importance of women’s role and contribution in the US military at all times cannot be overemphasized. There has been a radical change and revolution in the role and power of women in the US military over the centuries. Women have been serving in the military courageously for a long time in the history of the US, yet their contributions have conventionally been limited to noncombatant tasks. Women have played an exceptionally significant responsibility for the duration of the First and the Second World War as nurses as they took care of both the soldiers and the injured civilians. With the passage of time, women’s rights in military have been acknowledged more and more, and women were finally deployed in the combat zone, as well. Presently, women in the US military have the maximum rights compared to any time in the history of the US. The role women have played in the military in the past 1 century cannot be overemphasized any further as the contribution is quite enormous and significant. For instance, women are known to be involved in the overseeing of medical operations in the Army, piloting fighter jets, fighting in combats and commanding airstrikes among other duties. Additionally, most women have been seen rising in ranks within the military and some have been awarded with various medals for the exemplary services they offered or continue to offer. As such, it is advisable that the government continue listing more women into the military (Goldman 124). Works Cited “American Women in World War II.” History. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . “Early Women Soldiers.” N.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . Goldman, Nancy. “The changing role of women in the armed forces.” American Journal of Sociology 78.4 (1973). “Highlights in the History of Military Women.” N.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . “Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles.” Fox News. 24 Jan. 2013. . Simon, Rita J. Women in the Military. New Brunswick, N.J [u.a.: Transaction Publishers, 2001. Print. Strebe, Amy G. Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Military Pilots of World War Ii. Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International, 2007. Print. “Timeline: Women in the Military.” N.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . Zeigler, Sara L, and Gregory G. Gunderson. Moving Beyond G.i. Jane: Women and the U.s. Military. Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 2005. Print. Read More