"WE ALL WEAR THE SAME UNIFORM, AND WE ALL fIRE THE SAME WEAPONS. " - gEN. maRTIn dEMPSEY
One of the events in the 20th century that affected women's involvment in the armed forces was the creation of the Army Nurse Crops.This was formed by congress. The author of this article stated that the government realized that if they enlisted women to fill in for men as nurses the government can draft more men to fight. This was a good change to make because the military became stronger.
According to the book The Marine Corps in Action, women were offically granted enrollment in the militry during the first World War. Women were allowed to join the military during this time because there was a shortage of man power; the men who once were mechanics, drivers and air traffic controllers were now deployed and fighting the war, this left many jobs unattended. The government recogized that these tasks had nothing to do with combat, and could easily be performed by women. In an effort to fill the empty positions, women were enlisted and took on these duties and many others inlcuding administrative duties. The Marine Corps was one of the first armed services to take on women during the first World War. After World War I, women weren't drafted again until the second World War. About 20,000 women joined the Marine Reserves during the second World War. In an article on ABC Clio, more than 380,000 American women were serving in the war by 1946.
Womens army Auxiliary corpsThe Womens Army Auxiliary Corps, also known as the WAAC, was created in 1943. Women would perform noncombatant roles such as nurses, assistants, administrators and more. A quote stated in the article from ABC Clio states, " Corps philosophy was that through the service women could help the American war effort both directly and individually by performing noncombatant roles and freeing service men to carry out their essential comabt duties. " This quote is significant because it explains that how women actually helped men. In my opinion this must have had a positive impact on the fight for female equality in the armed forces. This group proved to so many that women were capable of handeling important responsibilities and were actually an asset. |
Army Nurse corps As mentioned above, the Army Nurse Corps was created when the government realized if they enlisted women, they could make more men available for combat. Women in Military Timeline
Histroy.org's timeline for women in the military is an extremely helpful resource becomes it states almost year by year, important events that made an impact or decreased the chances of womens oppurtunites.
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Briefing with ashton carter on Open military roles for women
According to the brieifing, Ashton Carter, explained that women make up 50 percent of the population. Therefore, if we were to take away half of the men on the battle field, then you would have half of the strength and talents.
Carter mentioned that in 1993, The Direct Combat Definition and Assignment Rule was issued by the Department of Defense also known as the DOD. This rule was retracted in 2013 when Leon Panetta spoke about all positions being open to women. Carter also states that the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Special Operations Command were researching the intergrating of women and men. Carter proceeds with saying that he had reviewed the reccomendations regarding any of the exemptions towards women. After he reviewed, he made a decision to move forward with opening all remaining postions to women.
Carter mentioned that in 1993, The Direct Combat Definition and Assignment Rule was issued by the Department of Defense also known as the DOD. This rule was retracted in 2013 when Leon Panetta spoke about all positions being open to women. Carter also states that the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Special Operations Command were researching the intergrating of women and men. Carter proceeds with saying that he had reviewed the reccomendations regarding any of the exemptions towards women. After he reviewed, he made a decision to move forward with opening all remaining postions to women.