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

Womens Roles in the MilitaryBefore being War I, women assisted the military during wartime mainly as nurses and helpers. slightly 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 theRevolutionary and the Civil War, a few women disguised themselves as men and took part in hand-to-hand combat. The premier(prenominal) 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 possess womens corps commanded by female officers. The first of these units, the Womens Army Corps (WACs), enlisted 400,000 women during the war to work in jobs that freed men to fight. Following the war, the Womens Services Integration Act of 1948 formal a permanent place for women in all 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 naval forces 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 twain the limitations and potential offemale 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 game school graduate), scores higher on the aptitude tests and is much les s likely to become a disciplinary problem*. As the military regenerate 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 rocket sites. The rapid increase in military technology as well as changes in the whole concep... ... The widely distributed 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 nark to assignments that are central to the militaries mission, they will be marginalized. Sexual harassment is a huge problemin the military today. Over 42 percent of all enlisted women say they have sexual harassed by they*re male colleges. There have been major scandalsranging 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 throughouthis 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 areexcluded from a number of jobs for no other reason than stereotyping, ideas of the low quality 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 regime employer to legally close jobs to women so why is it different in our Armed Service?