Womens Roles in the Military Essay -- Women in Military Essays

Women's Roles in the Military Before World War I, women assisted the military during wartime mainly as nurses and helpers. Some women, however, did become involved in battles. Molly Pitcher, a Revolutionary War water carrier, singlehandedly kept a cannon in action after a artillery crew had been disabled. During the Revolutionary and the Civil War, a few women disguised themselves as men and took part in hand-to-hand combat. The first enlisted women served in World War I as telephone and radio operators, translators, and clerks. But it was not until World War II that women became part of the regular military. Each service had its own women's corps commanded by female officers. The first of these units, the Women's Army Corps (WACs), enlisted 400,000 women during the war to work in jobs that freed men to fight. Following the war, the Women's Services Integration Act of 1948 established a permanent place for women in all branches of the military. But promotions for female officers were limited, and women were banned from ground combat jobs as well as from most Navy ships and Air Force aircraft. By the mid-1960s, about 70 percent of enlisted women worked in clerical and other office jobs. The Army and the other services at first resisted sending women to Vietnam fearing that they would notbe able to handle the stress of being in a war zone. But 7,500 military women, mainly nurses, eventually served in Vietnam. Several died in hostile action. When the all-volunteer military replaced the draft in 1973, the armed forces accelerated its recruitment of women. In 1977, a Department of Defense report clearly identified both the limitations and potential of female recruits at that time. *The average woman available to be recruited is smaller, weighs less, and is physically weaker than the vast majority of male recruits. She is also much brighter, better educated(a high school graduate), scores higher on the aptitude tests and is much less likely to become a disciplinary problem*. As the military modernized and weapons grew more sophisticated, education and technical skills became important. This development opened up more military jobs for women, including some combat-related jobs. For example, women became Army transport helicopter pilots and were assigned to nuclear missile sites. The rapid increase in military technology as well as changes in the whole concep... ... The General Accounting Office concluded in a hearing on May 8th 1999 that combat inclusion is the greatest impediment to women attaining higher military rank. Until qualified women are given access to assignments that are central to the militaries mission, they will be marginalized. Sexual harassment is a huge problem in the military today. Over 42 percent of all enlisted women say they have sexual harassed by they*re male colleges. There have been major scandals ranging from the rape of 3 women at Annapolis to General Wayne Regis getting court marshaled for his part in the sexual harassment of 7 women throughout his career. What do you think of when you look at Americas Armed services? When I began writing this paper I believed it was an equal opportunity employer that stands for the very basis of liberty and equality. Women are excluded from a number of jobs for no other reason than stereotyping, ideas of the inferiority of women in combat, and the chauvinistic thought of if their not there it wont happen. Remember none of the reason that I listed above would be sufficient for a government employer to legally close jobs to women so why is it different in our Armed Service?