Shall I open with a cute and funny story? I am going to pretend I heard you say yes and
share with you this one from picking my son up from day care while in
uniform. This was in 2005:
Little Boy 1: “Is that lady in the Army?”
Little Boy 2: “No… girls aren’t allowed, that is for boys
only.”
Me: Actually sweetie,
not only am I in the Army, they let me play with big toy trucks that dig
holes, jump out of planes, aaand I went to Iraq with other “girls” and
boys.
Little Boy 2: Did they let you carry a gun?
This left me speechless so I just laughed at that question
smiled, shook my head, and told the boys to have a nice day.
 |
| Cutting a Tree for Christmas in Iraq 2003 |
I told that little story to tell you this; Women are not new to the Armed Forces but I
won’t bore you with a long history.
Instead I will give a quick snippet of how we were allowed to serve
today. I know this may come as a shock,
but women served in the Revolutionary War.
That’s right women patriots existed from day one! Women acted as spies and even opted to defend
the Nashua River Bridge with muskets and pitchforks. We shall fast forward to the Civil War and
skipping some other conflicts, about 400 women are known to have dressed as men
to fight. Even more women acted as
nurses and cooks for their respective sides.
In WWI women were called upon for help again, they needed
men to go into the front lines and women could work in administration and as
phone operators but were not considered service-members. World War II gave us the Women’s Army
Auxiliary Corps where women served but not as members of the military. This was an agency separate from the military
and by the end of WWII it was the Women’s Army Corps or WAC. Women were officially allowed to serve with
caveats. They couldn’t hold a rank
higher than Lieutenant Colonel unless they were appointed director of women then
they could be a Colonel, but never make General. (this information was found in my Army Equal Opportunity Leader Course book)
The Vietnam War increased the role of women but they still
had a separate Corps. You must remember
a show called M*A*S*H right? Gee, the
women seemed pretty close to the action… At long last October of 1978 public Law 95-485
was lifted and the WAC was eliminated.
Women were finally integrated into the Army and in 1993 the combat
exclusion law was eliminated. So, to
anyone who may ask, “Gosh, are women really capable or ready for combat?” Ask one of my military sisters who acted as
Combat Support Military Police while in theater or the female pilots who have
risked their lives laying suppressive fire.
They could use the laugh… (The
historical information was found in my Army Equal Opportunity Leader Course
book and some from the links below)
I learned to love numbers while I studied accounting and
so here goes some figures for you. Total
percentage of women serving in Active Military is approximately 15% and the
numbers are only slightly higher for the reserve components. Figure in that
only one half of one percent, that would be .5% of Americans actually serve in
the military. Question: What is 15% of .5%?
Answer: .075%. That means that
.075% of our populations of Americans are women serving in the Armed
Forces. To be fair I am including the
Coast Guard which many don’t even realize we have, or what that is. It is no wonder we are poorly represented,
there are not a whole lot of us and since we are often too busy working and
taking care of our families, going to school, and figuring out how to keep our
sanity and sense of self, we don’t have a lot of time to tell the world who we
are and what serving our country means to us or our families. Our numbers are small, but we do exist, women
who have served next to men for a long time, and in the current conflict we
even act as team leaders, Commanders and everything in between.
Why am I bringing this entire history up if I really want to
talk about moms in the military? This is
our history, women’s history, not just those of us who raised our right hands
swearing to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. This history has proved that we may be
different but we are equal and I highly encourage you to research what I have
put in here. Google is your friend and
please don’t just take my word for it. Women are allowed to serve because of
two factors: The first is that the
decision makers knew the draft made war highly unpopular. The second is that
they needed people, and women were eager and willing to prove themselves. In a strange way it seems that women’s rights
were pushed ahead by something as controversial as war. So it just makes sense to ponder how
something so wonderful can come out of such horrors. It also bears to mind that this disproves the
idea that women wanted equal rights but not equal burden in the world.
Some Women to research: Lucy Brewer, Loreta Velasquez,
Francis Elliott Davis, Melissa Stockwell and Ann E. Dunwoody, you won’t regret
it….Or stay tuned, I may just write about them some day
All My References:
1. http://www.womensmemorial.org/H&C/History/historyeras.html
2. http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66253
3. http://www.statisticbrain.com/demographics-of-active-duty-u-s-military/
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