Women in the War Zone
U.S. military and PDs are significantly increasing the female role in risky combat.
In the military and criminal-justice fields, recent advances in technologies and techniques are now available to neutralize opponents’ advantages in individual size, weight and strength or collective force structures superior in number, weapon deployment and support systems. Putting gender aside, although our military forces today are only about a tenth the size of those marshaled for World War II, they are significantly more effective and lethal than their predecessors. Worth noting as well is the significant increase in women serving in risky combat roles, including line units, with no degradation in unit effectiveness.
The truth is, women have been closely involved in campaigning from the start. Until the early 20th Century, armies rarely moved without a host of followers in tow to perform the services and support to keep the troops going. Armies were like traveling cities, frequently with larger populations than the communities they captured and occupied. In such environments, the distinction between soldier and noncombatant was tenuous at best. Women with no formal requirement to engage in combat often handled combat roles.
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