Women in our military today: an overview

Women in our military today: an overview
by Melissa Schmitt
Jun 12, 2008

WASHINGTON--More women now serve on active duty in the U.S. military than at any other time in our nation's history.

They make up 14 percent of all branches of the U.S. military, or about 400,000 troops, and represent an even higher proportion of the reserve and National Guard. In the Air Force, women are 24 percent of the population.

More than 26,000 females are currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan, and close to 195,000 have served there since the wars began.

They fill 90 percent of military roles, including duty on the frequently-targeted convoys and military police. Women have even acted as gunners atop humvees in Iraq, ready to shoot to kill at a moment's notice.

The nature of the Iraq war--with its blurred front lines, has expanded the role of women in the military. They are in the direct line of fire, suddenly finding themselves in combat situations where they must react as an infantryman. They are not, by law, allowed to play these roles, but they are doing so, according to a Rand National Defense Research Institute Study completed in 2007.

Defense Sec. Robert Gates said in a speech in early May that "irregular, asymmetric warfare" is likely the future nature the conflicts this country will have to face. That means women will continue to be in the direct line of fire, and policy may need to catch up with the new reality.

"This is the first time we've had women on the front lines," said Michelle Saunders, an Iraq war veteran and the executive director of Veterans Moving Forward, a non-profit organization engaged in medical and professional advocacy for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "We have women gunners,” said Saunders. We have women with three-month-old babies. We've never done this before."
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