Women in Ground Close Combat

Gendered divisions of military labour in the British armed forces

“…Posts in the Household Cavalry, the Royal Armoured Corps, the Infantry, the Royal Marines General service and the RAF Regiment have remained closed to women, although there are strong indications that this ban will be formally lifted in 2016 (MOD 2014b, Fitriani et al 2016. What is significant here is less the lifting of these exclusions, which are in many ways symbolic -and we discuss this point in our conclusion as patterns of women's military participation speak directly to this (see also MacKenzie 2015).…”

The Obstacles Women Face in Gaining Access to Special Operations Forces

“…By the beginning of the twenty-first century, most Western democratic countries had admitted and increased the number of women in their armed forces; although restrictions persisted, many were lifted: women were progressively allowed to enter military academies and given access to a wide variety of positions and functions [9]. As the global momentum towards the acceptance of women in ground close combat (GCC) continues to increase, the USA decided, in December 2015, to open all GCC role to women without exception-a controversial and, some say, politically motivated decision [10]. The number of women service in the military and deployed to active duty is unprecedented in the history of developed economies-in the US Armed Services, women constitutes approximately 14.5% of the 1.4 million active component and 18% of the 850,000 reserve component [11].…”

“…In the USA, between 2003 and 2013, women were technically banned from direct assignment to ground combat units; however, the US military deployed all-female counterinsurgent teams in Iraq and Afghanistan [10,12]. Greenburg [12] also argues that in various forms, these teams searched Iraqi women at checkpoints and in home raids, provided medical assistance to Afghan women and children.…”

“…The reality is that many nations still do not allow women to serve in combat roles or in submarines [14]. Still, a greater number of combat-support and possibly service-support roles performed by women will increasingly mean they will find themselves in combat zones [10].…”

What Motivates Ukrainian Women to Choose a Military Service in Warfare?

“…Analysis of the problem of gender balance in the national armed forces of different countries of the world showed a growing trend in the number of women in the national armed forces of the democratic countries of the world (Fitriani et al, 2016). The number of female service members in the German Army is 9% of the total personnel, Lithuania -12%, France -13%, Estonia, Italy, Canada and Latvia -15% (Hrytsai, 2016), USA -16% (McGraw et al, 2016).…”