Women In The United States Army
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There have been women in the United States Army since the Revolutionary War, and women continue to serve in it today. As of 2020, there were 74,592 total women on active duty in the US Army, with 16,987 serving as officers and 57,605 enlisted. While the Army has the highest number of total active duty members, the ratio of women-men is lower than the US Air Force and the US Navy, with women making up 15.5% of total active duty Army in 2020.


History

Note that some minor wars women served in have been omitted from this history.


Pre-World War I

A few women fought in the Army in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
while disguised as men. Deborah Sampson fought until her sex was discovered and she was discharged, and Sally St. Clair died in the war. Anna Maria Lane joined her husband in the Army; her pension notes that she was given $100 a year for life in recognition of the fact that she, "in the Revolutionary War, performed extraordinary military services at the
Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American ...
, in the garb, and with the courage of a soldier." The number of women soldiers in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
is estimated at between 400 and 750, although an accurate count is impossible because the women again had to disguise themselves as men. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker became the first female surgeon in the US Army when she was appointed as Assistant Surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry serving in the Battles of First Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chattanooga, and Chickamauga. Walker was also the first and to this day the only woman to ever receive the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
. The United States established the Army Nurse Corps as a permanent part of the Army in 1901; the Corps was all-female until 1955.


World War I

Approximately 21,000 women served in the Army Nurse Corps during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1917 World War I Army nurses Clara Ayres and Helen Wood became the first female members of the U.S. military killed in the line of duty. They were killed on May 20, 1917, while with Base Hospital #12 aboard en route to France. The ship's crew fired the deck guns during a practice drill, and one of the guns exploded, spewing shell fragments across the deck and killing Nurses Ayres and Wood. Hello Girls was the colloquial name for American female switchboard operators in World War I, formally known as the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit; during World War I, these switchboard operators were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. However, not until 1978 did
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
approve veteran status/honorable discharges for the remaining Hello Girls. The Hello Girls were created in 1917 due to a call by General John J. Pershing to improve the worsening state of communications on the Western front. Applicants had to be bilingual in English and French to ensure that orders would be heard by anyone. Over 7,000 women applied, but only 450 women were accepted. Many of these women were former switchboard operators or employees at telecommunications companies.


World War II and after until the Korean War

The Army established the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942, which was changed to the
Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United S ...
in 1943. Over 150,000 women served as WACs during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The
Angels of Bataan The Angels of Bataan (also known as the "Angels of Bataan and Corregidor" and "The Battling Belles of Bataan") were the members of the United States Army Nurse Corps and the United States Navy Nurse Corps who were stationed in the Philippines at ...
(also known as the "Angels of
Bataan Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...
and
Corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...
" and "The Battling Belles of Bataan") were the members of the Army Nurse Corps (and the Navy Nurse Corps) who were stationed in the Philippines at the outset of the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
(a theatre of World War II) and served during World War II's Battle of the Philippines (1941–42). When Bataan and Corregidor fell to the Japanese in 1942, they, 66 army nurses (and 11 Navy nurses and 1 nurse-anesthetist) were captured and imprisoned in and around Manila. They continued to serve as a nursing unit throughout their status as prisoners of war. They were freed in February 1945. In January 1943, Captain Frances Keegan Marquis became the first to command a women's expeditionary force, the 149th WAAC Post Headquarters Company. Serving in General Eisenhower's North African headquarters in Algiers, this group of about 200 women performed secretarial, driving, postal, and other non-combat duties. In May 1943, Dr. Margaret Craighill became the first female doctor to become a commissioned officer in the Army Medical Corps; she was assigned as the Women’s Consultant to the Surgeon General of United States Army commanding the Women’s Health and Welfare Unit and liaison duty with the WAC. During her military service, she was responsible for inspection of the field conditions for all women in the United States Army. This included providing medical care after enlistment, and recommending hygiene courses and other preventative measures, as well as establishing the standards for screening applicants into the WACs and for WAC medical care. She also met with a board of army doctors to create set standards of acceptability, and these were shortly published. Craighill was also responsible for advising the assignment of women medical officers. She recommended that women be assigned positions that were based on their professional qualifications rather than on their gender. The United States Army Surgeon General's office issued a circular in 1941 that for the first time classified "homosexual proclivities" as disqualifying inductees from military service; the WAC adopted a similar policy in 1944. The WAC instituted strict screening policies for candidates, based on physical appearance and gender and femininity conformity, in order to exclude lesbians from service. WAC policies also condoned heterosexual relationships with servicemen in order to discourage homosexual conduct. Slightly after the war, in 1947, Florence Blanchfield became the first woman to receive a military commission in the regular army. In 1948, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act gave women permanent status in the Regular and Reserve forces of the Army.


Korean War and after until the Vietnam War

Army women who had joined the Reserves following World War II were involuntarily recalled to active duty during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. Although no Women's Army Corps unit was sent to Korea, approximately a dozen WACs, including one officer, served in Seoul and Pusan in secretarial, translator, and administrative positions in 1952 and 1953. As well, many WACs served in support positions in Japan and other overseas locations. Over 500 Army nurses served in the combat zone and many more were assigned to large hospitals in Japan. One Army nurse died in a plane crash on her way to Korea on July 27, 1950, shortly after hostilities began.


Vietnam War

In 1967, during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, Public Law 90-130 was signed into law; it removed legal ceilings on women's promotions that had kept them out of the general and flag ranks, and dropped the two percent ceiling on officer and enlisted strengths for women in the armed forces. Women's Army Corps soldiers served in the Vietnam War; at their peak in 1970, WAC presence in Vietnam consisted of some 20 officers and 130 enlisted women. During the war, Anna Mae Hays, Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, became the first U.S. female brigadier general on June 11, 1970. Minutes later, Elizabeth Hoisington, Director of the Women's Army Corps, became the second. An Army nurse (1st LT Sharon Ann Lane) was the only US military woman to die from enemy fire in Vietnam. Two other Army nurses were awarded the Soldier's Medal for heroism in Vietnam; one was African-American 1LT Diane Lindsay, who was the first black woman to receive the award.


Women in the Army since 1972

'' Frontiero v. Richardson'', , was a
landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case which decided that benefits given by the military to the family of service members cannot be given out differently because of sex.
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
admitted its first 119 female cadets in 1976, after Congress authorized the admission of women to the federal service academies in 1975. Four years later 62 female cadets graduated, including the first two black female graduates, Joy Dallas and Priscilla "Pat" Walker Locke. In 1989, Kristin Baker became the first female First Captain, the highest ranking senior cadet at the academy. Rebecca Marier became the academy's first female
valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...
in 1995. In 1978, the Women's Army Corps was disestablished and its members integrated into the regular Army. In 1980, Kate Wilder became the first woman to complete the Army's Special Forces Officer Course. In 1983, 170 women in the Army were part of the
United States invasion of Grenada The United States and a coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation with ...
as military police, munitions specialists, and signal operators. In 1989, Dorothy Pocklington became the first female member of the Army Reserve to attain the rank of brigadier general. The
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
involved the deployment of approximately 26,000 Army women. Two Army women were taken as POWs (Army Specialist Melissa Rathbun-Nealy and Maj. Rhonda Cornum). Women in the Army served in the
Afghanistan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
that began in 2001 and ended in 2021, and the American-led combat intervention in Iraq that began in 2014 and ended in 2021. Women in the Army served in the Iraq War from 2003 until 2011. During that war,
Jessica Lynch Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class. On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist ...
was captured by Iraqi soldiers while she was serving in the Army; her subsequent recovery by U.S. special operations forces, on April 1, 2003. received considerable media coverage as it was the first successful rescue of an American
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
since
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the first ever of a woman. Another female prisoner of war captured while serving in the Army during the Iraq War was Shoshana Johnson, a Panamanian-born American soldier, who was the first black female prisoner of war in the
military history of the United States The military history of the United States spans over four centuries, dating back to 1607 and pre-dating by nearly two centuries the founding of the nation following the American Revolutionary War. During this moment, the United States evolved f ...
. As well, during the Iraq War Leigh Ann Hester received the
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
for her heroic actions on 20 March 2005 during an enemy ambush on a supply convoy near the town of
Salman Pak Salman Pak (, ) is a city located approximately south of Baghdad near a peninsula formed by a broad eastward bend of the Tigris. It is named after Salman the Persian, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who is believed to be buried i ...
, Iraq; this made her the first female U.S. Army soldier to receive the Silver Star since
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the first ever to be cited for valor in close quarters combat. In all, since the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...
, more than 300,000 American women were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Washington-based Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a total of 166 women were killed in combat operations and more than 1,000 were injured. In 2008, Ann Dunwoody became the first female four-star general in the Army; this also made her the first female four-star general in the military. In 2011, Patricia Horoho became the first female Army surgeon general. In August 2015, Kristen Marie Griest and Shaye Lynne Haver became the first two women to graduate from the US Army Ranger School. In October 2015, Lisa Jaster became the third woman to graduate from this school, and the first one from the Army Reserves. In April 2016, Griest became the first female infantry officer in the US Army when the Army approved her request to transfer there from a military police unit. Brig. Gen. Diana Holland became West Point's first woman Commandant of Cadets in January 2016. In April 2016, Tammy Barnett became the first woman to enlist in the infantry in the U.S. Army, and Kristen Marie Griest became the first female infantry officer in the U.S. Army when the U.S. Army approved her request to transfer there from a military police unit. In May 2016, Shelby Atkins became the first female U.S. Army noncommissioned officer to be granted the infantry military occupational specialty. On October 26, 2016, ten women became the first female graduates from the United States Army's Infantry Basic Officer Leader's Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 2017, eighteen women graduated from the United States Army's first gender-integrated infantry basic training for enlisted soldiers. In 2019, Laura Yeager became the first woman to lead a US Army infantry division (specifically, the National Guard's 40th Infantry Division). According to scholars, since at least as early as 1960,
Executive Order 10450 President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 on April 27, 1953. Effective May 27, 1953, it revoked President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 1947 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program. Instead, it charged the heads ...
was applied to ban transgender individuals from serving in the United States military. On May 17, 1963, gender transitioned or transitioning individuals were officially prohibited from the United States military by Army Regulation 40-501. This policy reasoned transgender people were medically unqualified to serve because their mental state was considered unfit. Later, after varying restrictions over the years, there stopped being restrictions on people serving in the military due to their being transgender when President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
signed the "Executive Order on Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform" on January 25, 2021. In May 2021,
Christine Wormuth Christine E. Wormuth (born April 19, 1969) is an American defense official and career civil servant who served as the United States Secretary of the Army, United States secretary of the Army from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (Un ...
became the first female
United States Secretary of the Army The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, insta ...
. The Secretary of the Army is the civilian leader of the Army. As of 2023, women make up 16 percent of the US military. Of these, more than 100 have graduated from the Army's rigorous Ranger School.


Policies

In the case ''Doe v. Alexander'' (1981), which was about a transgender woman who had been rejected from the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...
due to having had
sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associat ...
, the Army defended their policy of denying enlistment to transsexual persons by stating that supporting transsexuals would raise a medical problem in the form of hormone supplements not always being available for such personnel. Before the " Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted in 1993, lesbians and bisexual women were banned from serving in the Army since 1944 (see above). In 1993 the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted, which mandated that the military could not ask servicemembers about their sexual orientation.Craig A. Rimmerma
Gay rights, military wrongs: political perspectives on lesbians and gays in the military
Garland Pub., 1996 p. 249
Thompson, Mark. (2008-01-28

TIME. Retrieved on 2010-11-30.
However, until the policy was ended in 2011 service members were still expelled from the military if they engaged in sexual conduct with a member of the same sex, stated that they were lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and/or married or attempted to marry someone of the same sex.Richard A. Gittin
The Military Commander & the Law
DIANE Publishing, 1996 p. 215
On April 28, 1993, combat exclusion was lifted from aviation positions by
Les Aspin Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician and economist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st co ...
, permitting women to serve in almost any aviation capacity. In 1994,
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
declared: That policy also excluded women being assigned to certain organizations based upon proximity to direct combat or "collocation" as the policy specifically referred to it. According to the Army, collocation occurs when, "the position or unit routinely physically locates and remains with a military unit assigned a doctrinal mission to routinely engage in direct combat." In 2013, Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American retired politician and government official who has served under several Democratic administrations as secretary of defense (2011–2013), director of the CIA (2009–2011), White House chi ...
removed the military's ban on women serving in combat, overturning the 1994 rule. Panetta's decision gave the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believed any positions must remain closed to women. The services had until May 2013 to draw up a plan for opening all units to women and until the end of 2015 to actually implement it. In September 2015,
Ranger School The Ranger School is a 62-day United States Army small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training w ...
was permanently opened to women. By August 2019, 30 women earned their U.S. Army Ranger tab. In December 2015, Defense Secretary
Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...
stated that starting in 2016 all combat jobs would open to women. In March 2016, Ash Carter approved final plans from military service branches and the U.S. Special Operations Command to open all combat jobs to women, and authorized the military to begin integrating female combat soldiers "right away." According to scholars, since at least as early as 1960,
Executive Order 10450 President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 on April 27, 1953. Effective May 27, 1953, it revoked President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 1947 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program. Instead, it charged the heads ...
was applied to ban transgender individuals from serving in the United States military. On May 17, 1963, gender transitioned or transitioning individuals were officially prohibited from the United States military by Army Regulation 40-501. This policy reasoned transgender people were medically unqualified to serve because their mental state was considered unfit. Later, after varying restrictions over the years, there stopped being restrictions on people serving in the military due to their being transgender when President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
signed the "Executive Order on Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform" on January 25, 2021. In February 2023, a set of new policies was established by the Department of Defense in order to support military members receiving abortions. Anyone who receives an abortion could travel out of a restrictive state and receive three weeks of administrative leave.


Sexual assault

According to a report published in 2011, more women in the US military are sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers than killed in combat. According to a Pentagon study released in May 2019, sexual assaults in the US military have increased sharply in the past two years, largely due to a 50% increase in assaults against women in uniform. According to
United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility f ...
report in 2013, a 2010 survey conducted by the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
found that 54% of women and 27% of men did not report assaults due to fear of retaliation or negative experiences after reporting.


See also

* Aberdeen scandal * Army Women's Museum *
Women in the military Women have been serving in the military since the inception of organized warfare, in both combat and non-combat roles. Their inclusion in combat missions has increased in recent decades, often serving as pilots, mechanics, and Infantry, in ...
*
Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United S ...
* Women's Army Volunteer Corp *
Sexual assault in the United States military Sexual assault in the United States armed forces is an ongoing issue which has received extensive media coverage in the past. A 2012 Pentagon survey found that approximately 26,000 women and men were sexually assaulted that year; of those, onl ...


References

{{Women in U.S. Government History of the United States Army United States Army Women in the United States Army