Women in Combat Arms

Around 17,000 of the currently serving 1.1 million service members are females.  In 2013, the official United States policy was that no women were to serve in units that were in direct combat.  Although this was the policy, female soldiers have sustained nearly 1000 casualties in the last 13 years of war.  These casualties break down into about 800 wounded and around 130 deaths.   Only a year later in 2014, nearly 40,000 positions that female soldiers were not authorized to fill would be open.  

The first women to enlist in the United States military was Loretta Walsh in 1917.  In 1948 legislation was passed that made women a permanent part of the armed forces. Women traditionally filled combat support roles such as nursing, manufacturing, communications, and other roles.  It was not until 1976 that women were accepted into the service academies.  In Desert Storm and Desert Shield, nearly 40,000 women were deployed in support of the Gulf War.  Congress pushed legislation through in 1994 that barred women from serving in units whose primary role was combat operations.  

Women have served in the Armed Forces of nearly every nation throughout history.