Women in the United States Armed Forces: A Guide to the Issues

(Hardback)

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Description

This handbook provides the reader with an historical and contemporary overview of the service by women in all branches of the U.S. military, tracing the causes and effects of evolving policies, issues, structural barriers, and cultural challenges on the record and in the future of the accomplishments by women warriors. Women in the United States Armed Forces: A Guide to the Issues covers over a century of accomplishments of military women, from the Civil War to the current wars in the Middle East. Readers will learn, for example, that during World War II, 565 women in the Women's Army Corps stationed in the Pacific theater received combat decorations, proving that women had the courage, strength, and stamina to perform in a combat environment. They will also learn that, perhaps surprisingly, it wasn't until the mid- to late 1970s that women had their first opportunities to serve at sea and as aviators (crew as well as pilots), albeit on noncombatant ships and aircraft. The book's final four chapters discuss the issues that continue to plague women in the military, including sexual harassment, noting that women's performance in America's two-front wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have made a positive difference in attitudes. The handbook closes with an epilogue that is at once a summary of the issues and a call for action.

Reviews

Iskra (leadership education and development, U. of Maryland, College Park), a retired Navy commander who was the first woman to command a ship, examines the history, policies, and current issues affecting women in the US military. The first chapter traces contributions of women from the American Revolution up to 1990, the legislation and policies that authorized women to enter the military, and the changes that occurred over the twentieth century to expand their roles. She then discusses policy and practice changes since 1990, such as those allowing women to fly combat aircraft and be assigned as permanent ship's company on surface combatant ships; the issue of citizenship rights and responsibilities and restrictions on women's roles, especially the ground combat exclusion and arguments for women's registration for selective service; the lives of female heroes, prisoners of war, and those who have earned awards; and concerns like gender discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, and conflicts with marriage and family. * Reference & Research Book News *
This volume will be useful for anyone researching women in the military, but especially for policy makers. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. * Choice *

Author Bio

Darlene M. Iskra, CDR, USN (ret.), PhD, is deputy director of the Leadership Education and Development Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, where she also earned her doctorate in sociology.