Acheivements of Women in the US Army Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Acheivements of Women in the US Army - Essay Example When the government of the United States declared war on Germany during World War I in 1917, more than nine million men took up military jobs, and by the end of the war more than two million had been deployed outside the country. With such deployments, the impact of the country’s resolution to get into war was quickly felt by women, who then stepped in to fill the openings left in offices, factories and shops. With a steady increase in their numbers in the industries, women eventually made up over 20 percent of the workers during the war period in manufacturing of airplanes, electrical machinery and food. In the same period, they dominated jobs that were formerly the preserve of men (Earley 12). In that respect, this paper will describe the achievements of women in the United States Army from World War I to present. In 1916, the Women’s Naval Service organized the National Service School to offer training to women for national duty (Earley 21). The Army, Marine Corps an d Navy worked together to train women in their thousands for roles in times of national disaster and war. They learnt skills in food conservation, military drills and aerobics, telephone operations, signaling and manufacture of bandages and surgical dressings. The Army Signal Corps had more than 200 female telephone operators, christened the â€Å"Hello Girls†, who were deployed for overseas duty. ... They often found themselves in the warfront and lived in makeshift tents or bunkers that offered little or no comfort. They went through the horror of continuous artillery bombardment and mustard gas while caring for both civilians and soldiers. At the end of the war and after lengthy deliberations, Congress, in 1979, granted the operators of the Signal Corps military status (Earley 37). In World War II, more than 150,000 American female soldiers were serving in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Apart from nurses and other noncombat female workers, the WAC members were the first women to serve within the United States Army ranks, even though both the public and army initially did not accept the concept of uniformed women (Weatherford 42). To the women’s achievement, military and political leaders realized the potential of the women to provide the desperately needed additional resources in the military sector. Given the opportunity, the women seized it and by the time the wa r ended, their contributions were acknowledged. Congresswoman Edith Rogers introduced a bill in 1941 to institute an army women’s corps that was distinct from the Army Nurse Corps. It was intended to extend to women serving in the war similar disability benefits, pensions and legal protection as the male soldiers. With the army’s reluctance to directly have women in its ranks, they settled on a compromise bill and established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) to work alongside the army. Their only mandate was to provide the national defense with special skills and training of the nation’s women (Weatherford 46). No female officer could command men. WAAC’s Director was allocated the rank of