U.S. Air Force graphic by Airman 1st Class Samantha Meadors
By Katie Lange
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
Women’s Equality Day commemorates the 19th Amendment’s passage Aug. 26, 1920, when U.S. women were given full voting rights.
Nearly 100 years later, women are still working for equality. In the military, great strides have been made, but more are still to come.
Last week, two women graduated from the Army Ranger School leadership course, becoming the first women to earn the Ranger Tab after grueling training that pushed them to their mental and physical limits.
Army Capt. Kristen Griest (left) and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver pose for photos as they become the first women to graduate from Ranger School. Photos by Markeith Horace/MCoE PAO Photographer
However, at this point in time, those women can’t actually join the elite fighting force. Ranger jobs are currently some of 240,000 military positions still closed to women. In the Army and Marines, thousands of infantry, artillery, armor and special operations positions are still off-limits, while only a handful are still closed to women in the Navy and Air Force.
But that could soon be changing. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is expected to announce early next year the Defense Department’s final decision on allowing women to serve in most front-line combat positions, including in the Rangers, Navy SEALS and Army’s Delta Force.
So how far have women in the military come? Here’s a timeline of big events since gaining the right to vote:
1920: The Army Reorganization Act grants military nurses the status of officers with relative rank from second lieutenant through major; however full rights and privileges (i.e., base pay) equal to that of an officer of comparable grade were not awarded.
1948: President Harry Truman signs the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, giving women permanent enlistment and appointment status in the regular and reserve military forces.
Rosie the Riveter. Photo courtesy of National Park Service
1951: TheDefense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services is created to provide advice on how to recruit military women, particularly for the Korean War. In the decades since, it has been instrumental in effecting changes to laws and policies pertaining to military women.
1953: The first woman physician is commissioned as a medical officer in the Army; Navy Hospital Corps women are assigned positions on Military Sea Transportation Service ships for the first time.
1973: The U.S. Supreme Court rules unconstitutional the inequities on benefits for the dependents of military women. Before then, military women with dependents weren’t authorized housing, and their kids weren’t eligible for benefits that dependents of their male counterparts got.
1975: DoD reverses policies, giving pregnant women the choice to be discharged or to stay active-duty. Previously, all pregnant women were required to be discharged.
1978: The U.S. Coast Guard opens all its assignments to women.
1980: The first women graduate from the service academies. During this decade, the Coast Guard, Air Force and naval academies named their first female valedictorians.
1990: Two female Blackhawk Army helicopter pilots become recipients of the Air Medal with “V” device for valor under fire. The women transported troops during the invasion of Panama in 1989.
1991: The first woman is chosen to command a Navy ship; Congress repeals laws banning women from flying in combat.
Helen Snapp, a World War II Woman Air Force Service Pilot, receives a Navy pin from Rear Adm. Robin Braun, director of Total Force Management, at the 21st Annual Women in Aviation International Conference in Orlando in February 2010. Photo by Kristine Volk
1993: Congress repeals a law banning women from duty on combat ships.
1994: The USS Eisenhower is the first carrier to have permanent women crew members.
1998: The first woman fighter pilot delivers a payload of missiles and bombs in combat during the first wave of U.S. strikes against Iraq in Operation Desert Fox.
2005: The first woman is awarded the Silver Star for combat action. She is one of 14 women to ever receive the medal.
2008: For the first time in U.S. Army history, a woman is promoted to the rank of four-star general.
2011: Female Navy officers are allowed to serve aboard OHIO Class submarines.
2013: A 1994 policy excluding women from serving in direct ground combat positions is lifted, opening up 91,000 jobs once closed to women.
2015: Enlisted women can begin applying to serve on submarines.
Women’s rights in the military have been changing, slowly but surely. Come January, another monumental breakthrough might be added to the list!
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