Click thumbnails for high-res images suitable for print media (DOD News Photos).
Women have served valiantly in America's wars and conflicts throughout our history. And although women were not formally under military command until the early part of the 20th century, they have served in various capacities, beginning with America's War of Independence.
During the American Revolution, it was not uncommon for wives, mothers, and daughters to follow their male loved ones into battle. While they tended to their men, they were often given rations in exchange for service to the troops, mostly tending to the wounded and serving as cooks, seamstresses, and launderers.
The institutionalization of the nursing corps as an auxiliary of the Army, which started during the Spanish-American War in 1901 by an act of Congress, is generally recognized as the event that established women as a formal part of the military.
World War (WW) I seems to have been a turning point in the history of women in the military. The significant role of nurses and women serving in other roles during WW I firmly established the importance of women to the armed forces.
World War II was the time when women served in relatively large numbers, responding to an all-out mobilization because of a desperate need for personnel. Acceptance of these women was not always given willingly, both in Congress and within the military itself. At the end of the war, nearly 280,000 women were serving out of 12 million in the armed forces. In all, roughly 350,000 women served in the military during the course of the war.
It was during WW II when women were first given full military status with the establishment of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) by Congress in 1943. The WAC was headed by Oveta Culp Hobby of Texas, who later became the second woman to serve as a cabinet secretary (after Labor Secretary Francis Perkins in Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration). She served as secretary under President Eisenhower of what is now the Department of Health and Human Services. The WAC, its predecessor, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), the Navy's WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) (established in 1942), the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, the Coast Guard Women's Reserve (known as SPARS, Semper Paratus-Always Ready) (established in 1942), and the WASPS (Women Air Force Service Pilots, made up of civil service pilots) all contributed immensely in various ways to the war effort.
In 1948, President Harry Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, making women permanent members of the Regular and Reserve forces of the Army, Navy, Marines and the newly created Air Force (Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation.
During the Korean Conflict (in 1951), the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) was established by then- Secretary of Defense, George C. Marshall, to provide advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to the recruitment and retention, treatment, employment, integration, and well-being of professional women in the Armed Forces. DACOWITS exists to this day, continuing to make recommendations on family issues related to recruitment and retention of women in the military. Historically, the civilian appointees to DACOWITS have been very instrumental in recommending changes to laws and policies beneficial to military women.
The next big push to increase the number of women in the military came in 1968 during the Vietnam War. The Department of Defense had a goal of adding 6,500 women to the military, thus trying to reverse a downward trend after the Korean Conflict. Nearly 7,000 women served in the military in the Southeast Asia theater of operations. Most of those who served there were nurses (Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, p. 4). However, the military opened up many other positions to women as a result not only of personnel shortages, even in an era of conscription, but also as a reflection of general societal changes in the role of women. The Vietnam era was a time of considerable social ferment and unrest, with many groups demanding and gaining equal status in society, including women. Indeed, the passage of P.L. 90-130 in 1967 was meant, in large part, to remove statutorily any obstacles to women becoming high ranking military officers. In 1970, Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays, head of the Army Nurse Corps, became the first woman to attain star rank in nursing. By 1972, Rear Admiral Alene B. Duerk, head of the Navy Nurse Corps, became the first woman admiral and also in 1972, E. Ann Hoefly became Brigadier General in the Air Force Nurse Corps. The 1970's also saw the appointment of women to star rank who were not nurses: Army Brigadier General Elizabeth P. Hoisington (1970); Air Force Brigadier General Jeanne M. Holm (1971); Navy Rear Admiral Fran McKee (1976); and Marine Brigadier General Margaret A. Brewer (1978). Gains made by women in the military continued through the 1970's.
Although rules affirmed in 1994 by then-Defense Secretary Les Aspin exempt women from assignments in small direct ground combat units or from collocating with such units, the rules also lifted long-standing bans on women serving in other combat related roles as a direct result of their performance during the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. Beginning in the early 1990s, women flew combat aircraft, manned missile placements, served on ships in the Gulf, drove convoys in the desert, and assumed other roles making exposure to combat more likely. In the 2001 National Survey of Veterans, 12 percent of women veterans reported having served in a combat or war zone. Nearly one-quarter reported contact with dead, dying or wounded compatriots during their military service. Some mark the beginning of the trend toward greater gender equality in the military with the advent of the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) in 1973, when occupational roles within the military opened up considerably for women because of the need to fill those positions with a volunteer force. That is, personnel demands could not be met with a force of male volunteers alone. Data show that the AVF marked a sharp increase in the absolute number of women in the military and an increase in the proportion of women in the military as well. In spite of difficulties in retaining women in the military shortly after the establishment of the AVF, steps were taken to make the military more "family friendly" to encourage women to enter service and to remain there as well. Arguably, more needs to be done. But the numbers reflect, in some measure, those steps. In 1973, for example, 55,000 women were in the active duty military, making up 2.5 percent of the armed forces. By September 30, 2005, however, the number of women on active duty nearly quadrupled to more than 202,000, making up nearly 14 percent of the active duty armed forces.
According to the 1990 Census, there were 1.2 million women veterans. By the next census in 2000, that number increased to 1.6 million, with an estimated 1.74 million by the end of fiscal year 2007. The accompanying figure2 shows the trend in the estimated and projected number of women veterans in the U.S. and Puerto Rico over the span of 40 years, from 1980 to 2020. The population of women veterans rose, and is projected to continue to rise, steadily from 1.1 million in 1980 to 1.2 million in 1990 to 1.6 million in 2000 to 1.8 million in 2010 and 1.9 million in 2020.
As a proportion of the veteran population, women went from nearly 4 percent in 1980 to 4 percent in 1990 and 6 percent in 20003. With projected increases in the number of women in the military relative to men, the proportion of the veteran population which is female is also projected to increase steadily: 8 percent in 2010 (from 6 percent in 2000) and 10 percent by 2020.
Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom continue to be sustained by dedicated women-warriors who serve next to their brothers-in-arms.
Links/Resources:
New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women
Veteran Employment Representatives:
Director, Veteran Employment and Training
Sharon Mitchell
Tele: 505-346-7502
Christin McKinley
Tele: 505-843-1918
Beverly Charley
Tele: 505-327-6126
Veterans Benefits Officers:
Albuquerque Contact:
Jovanna Sandoval
PO Box 486
Albuquerque, NM 87103-0486
Tele: 505-346-4873 / Fax 346-4869
Email: jovanna.sandoval@va.gov
Las Cruces Contact:
Virginia Chavez Bell
2024 E. Griggs Ave.
Las Cruces, NM 88001
Tele: 505-524-6124 / Fax 524-6130
Email: virginia.bell@state.nm.us
Las Vegas Contact:
Wanda Vigil
720 Maximiliano Dr.
Las Vegas, NM 87701
Tele: 505-454-0068
Email: wandam.vigil@state.nm.us
Los Lunas Contact:
Theresa Zuni
1000 Main St., Cottage #4
Los Lunas, NM 87031
Tele: 505-841-5346 / Fax 841-5367
Email: theresa.zuni@state.nm.us
Farmington Contact:
Charlotte Atso
101 W. Animas St., Rm # 104
Farmington, NM 87401
Tele: 505-327-2861 / Fax 599-9745
Email: charlotte.atso@state.nm.us
VA Veterans Centers in NM
Albuquerque:
R. Jane Darnell, LISW
Women's Issues & Families
Tele: 505-346-6562
Las Cruces:
Tele: 575-523-9826
Farmington:
Tele: 505-327-9684
Santa Fe:
Tele: 505-988-6562
NM Veterans Population
15,000 Women
The Alliance for National Defense - A Positive Voice for Women in the Military
Connect-A-Vet Resources - Business and Professional Women
National Women's Health Information Center
Women Veterans: Past, Present and Future, June 2004 and
Updated
April 2005
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (DOD)
New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence
