Women in the US Military - Speech or Presentation Example

?Women in the US Military Introduction Women have played a very important role in the military since the onset of the American revolution. Women havebrought water to the soldiers, provided the soldiers with food and clothes, and also served as nurses. However, women were not formally included in the military until the Civil War. Ever since, women have assumed powerful positions in the defense system of America. 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 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 a permanent nurses’ corpse in the US Army. 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 the positions as Marine Corps Yeoman whereas the call of Navy to become Yeomanettes was responded to by over 11000 women (“Early Women Soldiers”). In 2013, long-stayed ban on the inclusion of women in the combat positions was lifted. Lifting of this ban can be attributed 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 military (“Timeline: Women in”) in DoSomething.org provides a detailed account of women in military through a timeline as shown below. 1846-1848 Elizabeth Newcom, 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. 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 the 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 Women got promoted to the rank of brigadier general for the first time. This was followed by the occurrence of more equality 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. Congressed 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 the 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 within home 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 the 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 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 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). Conclusion The importance of women’s role and contribution in the US military at all times cannot be overemphasized. There has been 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 a very important role during 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. 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. . “Timeline: Women in the Military.” N.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . Read More