Influential Women In The Military

Author: Heather Posted: Mar 4th, 2009 at ArticlesBase.com

The Military Women 

Throughout the history of the military, women have played a large role. Not only by supporting the soldiers but standing next to the male soldiers, ready to fight. Over nine thousand women served over in Vietnam and more served at hospitals caring for wounded soldiers (Wilson, 1996). In September of 2005 there were an estimated 203,000 women on active duty serving in the United States military (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2007, ¶ 24). While some do not believe women should be on the front lines, having women in the military has helped create a strong, more integrated fighting force

Vietnam and Other Wars 

When Pearl Harbor was attacked the military did not have enough male soldiers to fill certain jobs which did not have to do with direct combat. These jobs are supported military occupational specialties (MOS). Many of these jobs were clerical duties, nursing, civil service and laundry workers. The government finally decided to let women fill these jobs and let them men go fight in the war. Many served in the civilian sector but some were sent overseas; and some women did die in World War II and Vietnam. 

Vietnam was a remarkable breakthrough for women in all armed forces. Women served in the Marines, Air Force, Navy and Army. By the time the military was leaving Vietnam, 7,500 women had accomplished oversea tours (Holm, 1982, chap. 16). During Operation Just Cause in Panama 1989, a few hundred women served executing refueling missions and resupply missions while being shot at by the enemy (Wilson, 1996, ¶ 6). These missions still were not considered combat missions. 

Women served in large numbers during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Over 40,000 (Ghajar, n.d., ¶ 8) women reportedly served in the battle between Kuwait and Iraq. These women had set a milestone in women’s history and set record numbers. Today the women serving overseas against the War on Terrorism has helped contribute to the success of the military women. 

The War on Terrorism has brought men and women together. Not fighting against each other about gender but fighting together as a strong force. Even though the military does not consider what women do in Iraq and Afghanistan as combat, many women find themselves in danger at any given moment. The women of these wars have made exceptional achievements and accomplished many successful missions. 

Achievements 

The military has given credit to the well deserved men and women. Women, who helped in the Revolutionary War, were the first to receive pensions. These women, not yet considered military, were recognized for "drawing well water" (Wilson, 1996, Military Women "Firsts" and their History) for soldiers on the battlefield. These women were accredited no matter how small the pension was and today female soldiers receive the same veteran benefits and pensions of male soldiers. But few have received as many awards as their male counterparts. 

The only woman to receive the nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, is a Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary Walker. She was awarded the medal, and Congress eventually took it away from her for reasons still not exactly known. After her death, President Carter "reinstated her medal" (Wilson, 1996). There have been many women to receive the Purple Heart, which is the oldest and first military award. 

The Purple Heart is awarded to soldiers who have been injured or killed during combat, directly engaged with enemy. The Purple Heart is an award of honor and is held in high regard. With the awards come honor but to receive honor one must receive rank that deserves respect. 

Recently the first female was given the rank of four-star General. This is the highest commissioned rank in the military. Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody was promoted in November of 2008, which shifted the outlook on women officers (CNN, 2008). Women have served all branches and parts of the military. 

The Army’s non-commissioned officers (NCO) are thought to be the "backbone of the Army". These NCOs train and fight next to their soldiers guiding them through their battles. There are only a few exceptional women NCOs documented, but there are many who have served. These NCOs stand for, what the military is; they fight beside their soldiers and lead from the front. Women have participated in the long tradition of the NCO ranks. Women NCOs have showed that they too can do what is right and lead the force. 

Even though there are more men given awards of merit and so forth; the women have stood by these soldiers doing the same job. The physical fitness and training standards may be different, but these soldiers work together to get the mission accomplished.  

Feminizing the Military 

Many people will argue that women do not belong in the military or front lines because the obvious physical difference. Can a woman carry the same weight as a man on her back? Can a woman run as far as the man running beside her? 

The military adopted the different physical standards to help provide fair evaluations of female recruits. Some female soldiers are able to run further then male soldiers, some may even be able to carry a heavy load longer distances than men. These standards are set in place to help women overcome the physical differences. The training of soldiers though does not have the same standards. 

Training in a co-ed environment may be a little stricter on language and harder on sexual harassment. The women are trained in the same areas of men and are given the exact evaluations. These training units instill a tough sexual harassment and equal opportunity policy. Still with these policies in place there is a list of units and batteries that women are not allowed to train for ("Women in the Army", n.d., ¶ 7). These units are thought to be ones that would send a woman into direct combat. 

A unit that does go into direct battle needs support soldiers, these support elements are: criminal intelligence, clerical, medical, military police, civil affairs, engineers and signal. Women are allowed to serve in all support units and go to war with the combat units. The support elements will engage in missions that will put women on the front lines. And even though the military will not recognize women serving in combat, in a support MOS, a soldier will be in the line of danger and fight along with the combat soldiers. 

Views on Women in the Military 

The combat readiness of female soldiers is a long debate. There are many that believe that because of a woman’s emotional needs that do not belong on the battlefields. Some say women are a distraction to men on the battlefields and women cannot carry the same load as men. 

Today there are numerous women serving in support units which complete dangerous missions daily. The military prohibits women serving in line units (infantry) (Norris, 2007, ¶ 4) but females are part of a specialized unit themselves. The War on Terrorism brought a new threat, women suicide bombers. 

The Muslim beliefs made it hard for male soldiers to search Muslim women properly who could be hiding critical information or weapons. The military designed a group of women, usually belonging to a military police unit, to conduct missions with combat units to help search the women. The "Lioness" proved to play a very important role in the ground war (Solaro, 2006, chap. 3). 

These women help show respect to the Muslim beliefs and are very important in the War on Terrorism. This job puts these women on the front lines and many women in these units find themselves in battles with the enemy. These women know all to well the effects of war and have firsthand experience. Again, the military will not acknowledge that they put women on the front lines, they are there. 

Our history has shown us that no matter one’s race, religion or gender; oneself can be successful in this country. A woman can run a business just as well as a male. An African American woman can run the same business. And a Muslim, African American woman can run the business just the same. 

Women and men of many races and religions fight the war together, proving the country is united. This lets our enemies know the United States of America does have equality and will rise from our shortcomings. The military may not recognize women are on the front lines because of the policies, but the women overseas know better. They are fighting alongside the male soldiers in direct combat and, they are just as important to the success of the war. Virginia Woolf a British author once said "As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is my whole world."

References Chamber of Commerce. (2007). U.S. Census Bureau News Release Available from Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb07ff-03.pdf CNN (2008). Army general is nation’s first four-star woman. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/11/14/woman.4.star.general/index.html Ghajar, L. (n.d.). Persian Gulf War. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from Hagen, M. (2004). Women in the Military. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://www.mscd.edu/~history/camphale/wim_001.html Holm, J. (1982). Women in the Military an Unfinished Revolution. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. Lewis, J. (n.d.). About Women and World War II. Retrieved January 3, 2009, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/military.htm Norris, M. (2007, October 1, 2007). Roles for Women in U.S. Army Expand. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14869648 Solaro, E. (2006). Women in the Line of Fire: What You Should Know About Women in the Military. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press. Wilson, B. (1996). Military Women "Firsts" and their History. Retrieved January 5, 2009, from http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/firsts.html Wilson, B. (1996). Vietnam-Southeast Asia. Retrieved December 29,2008, from http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvetsnam.html Women in the Army-Historical Highlights. (n.d.) Retrieved January 11, 2009 , from http://www.asamra.army.mil/eo/eo_docs/Women in the Army - Historical Highlights.doc Woolf, V. (n.d.). World of Quotes. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Virginia-Woolf/1/index.html

About the Author: My name is Heather. I am 25 years old and currently live in Vicenza, Italy, with my husband of 2 years. I have no children but I have two cats. I currently am studying to become a social worker. I have always loved to write but never had a chance to show what I can do. I hope to eventually become better at writing and maybe write a book one day!

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Influential Women In The Military

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This is such an extraordinary article written by Heather that I just had to share this here and at FLOW (FOR THE LOVE OF WOMAN)!

Recommended site: What I can do - I will - "What I can do - I will - pays tribute to veterans in general and is the way of saying Thank You to those who have served. Stacey, a native Texan, is a friend to veterans, a voice for those who have yet to return. I live to honor those who made it back, and remember those who did not. It has been my honor to attend the funerals for five fine Americans who gave their all, yet had to wait over thirty years for their homecoming Stacey says." - THE MOON AWARD SILVER

Center For Women Charleston, SC Update

Center For Women, "Helping women succeed every day!"; has moved their office to 129 Cannon St. between President St. and Ashley Avenue downtown Charleston, SC with a refreshed web site at c4women.org and also have a new blog site at Lowcountry Women.

Center For Women is mainly a non-profit organization of Volunteers that strive successfully to help Women and Women with Families.

"Our efforts are working and being recognized! Oprah Winfrey honored the CFW in 2006 with an Oprah’s Angel Network $25,000 grant. The Family Circle Cup Tournament selected the CFW as their charity of choice for three years in a row 2006-2008. The CFW was the winner of the 2005 Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Management by the SC Association of Non-Profit Organizations"

Center For Women offers a variety of events including:

Brown Bag Lunch Series: "Regular midday presentations that provide information on timely topics that affect women."

Entrepreneurial Woman Series: "Practical seminars for women starting, running or growing their own businesses, including panel discussions, networking strategies, and resource and referral information."

Support Groups, "Current 2008 topics include: A Daughter's Grief, Career Transitions, Caregivers, Coping With Chronic Illness, Depression & Anxiety, Finding Balance, Parenting Teenagers, Positive Life Coaching, and Separation & Divorce"

And lots of resources.

I would like to especially encourage and welcome all to visit the Center For Women blog site Lowcountry Women and feel free to participate in the women's topics there, regardless of where you live.

Please see Binding Ink sidebar for Lowcountry Women blog updates!

I first became aware of CFW in 1998, when I was reading the below article in the local newspaper, The Post and Courier:

{Writing contest to show women’s collective portrait

By Dottie Ashley
Of The Post and Courier staff

“The Many Faces of Women” is a writing contest designed to remind the public that the Center For Women is a place of diversity and a resource for all women, regardless of race, age, profession or socioeconomic status.

“People would be surprised by the many faces of women that are served by the center,” says Harriet Smartt, board president of the private, nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women in their private and public lives.
“This contest is a way for women to paint, a collective portrait of a woman – using a pen,” adds Smartt.

Writers who enter the contest are asked to base a short story, essay or poem on a struggle, a choice or an awakening that they imagine may have occurred in the fictional life of one of five women.}

A flyer from The Center For Women stated, “Winners will be announced at the Second Annual Community Recognition Dinner at Charleston Place on January 22, 1998. Keynote speaker: Acclaimed novelist Anne Rivers Siddons. Winners will also receive a $100. cash prize. The five watercolor portraits that provide the inspiration for the contest are named Lucretia, Emma, Endia, Bridgit and Barbara.” The five faces are represented in a watercolor collage by Charleston portrait artist Rhett Thurman and were on display at The Coffee Gallery (Sarah and Patrick Clise) during the local contest:

photo from Dottie Ashley article
.
“The Many Faces of Women Writing Contest” was conceived and coordinated by Mary Elizabeth Feldmann. Another Post and Courier article, “Center reads between lines with women” by Elsa McDowell, incorporated a finely written interview with Feldmann.

The three judges Barbara Hagerty, Nikki Hardin, Constance Pulz selected five winners – one to go with each Thurman portrait. I was one of those winners! We each received the cash prize and two other special gifts from the Center For Women! One, we were invited as Guess to the Second Annual Dinner. Here, CFW acknowledged us for our Writings. In-between we banqueted on an exquisite meal and enjoyed the monumental Community recognitions.

Secondly; Nikki Hardin, Publisher/Editor of Skirt Magazine published our Writings! Each month, one of the five Authors was included in the Skirt addition:

April 1998: Mary Jeffreies, “Emma, The Chain“

May 1998: Jeannette M. Deveaux, “Endia, I am a Voice and I shall be Heard“

June 1998: Julie Pitts, “Bridgit“

July 1998: Harriet Popham Rigney, “Barbara”

August 1998: Jean Michelle Culp, “Lucretia”

My poem begins with Lucretia introducing herself as a black woman:

Lucretia




I am a black woman, or as some would say, “African-American”,

I live in a country where the melting pot has boiled over,

Seeping discrimination and crime.

Dissemination is just ignorance,

Blindness to the fact we all bleed the same color blood.

Crime however; is a disgrace to our race,

Blacks killing blacks, children killing children,

They are no better than those who killed our ancestors.

Meanwhile; our people try and uphold rightful cries,

But, Black Power can not be heard past the blast of gun power,

Gangs shooting gangs for turf that is not even theirs to take,

Innocent bystanders slain in street wars, for what?

Sadden, I take the cloth from my hair and wipe my tears, shouting:

Have our ancestors died in vain?

Do we not realize what our ancestors wounds bled for?

What our ancestors died for, “Freedom”!

Yet, all around are gravely guns that shoot down hope,

Pimps who lay slaves for the desperate and naïve,

Drugs enslaving the body to a lifetime of dependency,

And steel barred cells shackle those who have made themselves slaves.

Afraid, we bolt our doors, board up windows.

Locked inside fear-ridden anxiety,

We become the prisoners in a war that is not ours.

Meanwhile; another child goes hungry, another dies from the cold,

Another job is given to someone else, why?

Because of fear, fear of the criminals in us all.

But criminals are from every race, every color,

Criminals are from every gender, every age.

And it is crime that robs everyone of their heritage,

Crime that strips everyone of their rights,

As we all live in this land not so plentiful, not so free.

Yes, I am a woman, struggling to live in America,

The land of opportunity under siege.

By - Jeane Michelle Culp

Thanks to all who helped in the Center For Women 1998 Writing contest. The event is a memory my heart will forever cherish. An extra Special thanks to my role model Patricia Goodwin.

*I am hoping this post will reach the other four Authors and have them e-mail me, so I may post their Winning Writings also.

Related Post: FLOW (For The Love Of Woman), more Info on the Center For Women

It Was Blogged To Happen-Women

Long ago whence I first began posting on my blog site and what seemed like a lengthy time afterwards, I received my first comment. Excited, I followed the link from my Commenter and found a wonderfully delightful blog site, now called In Search of Isis. There were posted poems, posts with humor, and much more enjoyment in-between. Since; I have had the pleasure of reading many posts at “In Search of Isis” and amidst the written words, I caught small glimpses of a man known only as eastcoastdweller. A guy with vast interests such as being intrigued with insects, petrifiedly saving a loathsome bat, he has a fondness for the classics, poetry, music, and he is a man addicted to cigarette smoke. In his own words, he is a “capnolagiac -- a man who finds a woman's smoking to be incredibly, intensely erotic.” A man who perhaps one day may “summon the courage to pay some hotel room escort to blow her cigarette smoke at me until I die in ecstasy from a secondhand nicotine overdose.” Yes, my Friends this is the spectacular one of a kind, eastcoastdweller! A Guy who realizes that “men who love Women love Their ears right along with the rest of the miracle that is Her.”

Throughout his various posts I have had the pleasure to experience this Gentleman’s mannerism of articulating his great respect, admiration for us Women and our sites. Since his sidebar links have lengthened to include a number of Women’s sites. And so recently eastcoastdweller has decided to expand his Blog Site to include all us Woman! In his own words:

New concept for this blog

I had an idea this morning, an exciting idea – perhaps fueled in part by my happy mood since Sweetie’s sinus infection appears to be very minor this time. Thank heaven for Advil and the 24-hour Walgreen’s that sold it to me late last night. I’d crawl into hell on my hands and knees or at least make a middle of the night drive for my Goddess’ sake.

This blog exists to celebrate, adore, empower, uplift and rejoice in the magnificence of, Women. Not just magazine models – all Women, for every Woman in the world is beautiful in Her own way, a being of incredible power and potential and worth.

That is why I exist, too, to share this important message, and it is my joy and my passion.

Lovely red-headed Dawn (whose blog I have not visited in a day or two – sorry Dawn, I promise to visit tonight!) has offered me technical guidance in setting up a website that will be dedicated to the above goal, in a way that a blog cannot.

But this blog will continue along with that site. And I had an idea this morning to share the steering wheel.

What if Isis could become a true community where trusted Ladies who visit here often, could have posting privileges alongside me, posting whatever came into Their brilliant minds, plugging Their own delightful blogs shamelessly, adding appropriate links, adding resources that They, as Women, believe are important for other Women?

Can you imagine the cybervoices of possibly hundreds of Women, sharing each other's concerns, offering advice on everything that matters to Women, right here on this little blog?

I am so excited about this idea that I could burst. What do you all think?

Related post: Progress of "For the Love of Woman"

I am happy here at Binding Ink to share the news with you all that "For the Love of Woman" has been launched! And I invite each and everyone to please come and enjoy!

"For the Love of Woman"

“A circle of Sisters on the web and a few blessed men who rejoice to know Them. A safe place. A helpful place. For the glory of Women, the progress of Women, the uplift of Women and the health of Women in body, mind and spirit.”

Co-Authors:

...Kat

-Jeane Michelle Culp

yek

Christy

Laura Stamps

PixieDust

Nadiyya

Lyn

Lone Grey Squirrel

eastcoastdweller

Carmen

Dawn