MILITARY WOMEN
Critical Analysis
By Lara Maupin, a social studies teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia

Overview:
This lesson should take 15 -20 minutes and may be used to discuss the following with your students:

• the recent rescue of Private Jessica Lynch by coalition forces
  
  
• the history of women in the U.S. military (handout HTML PDF)
  
  
• the current status of women in the military and their roles in the war in Iraq

Students will understand that women have always served in military conflicts but that military women will play a larger role in this conflict than ever before. Students will explore their feelings about women in combat. This lesson may be used in any social studies class.

Materials:
Students will need printed copies of the NewsHour Extra article cited below or computers with Internet access.

Correlations to National Standards

Procedure:

1. Give your students some background on the history of women in the U.S. military. (handout HTML PDF)
   
   · Women have served in every military conflict in U.S. history. We do not know how many served prior to the Spanish-American War in 1898 but we do know that they supported the troops on the battlefield and behind the lines in a variety of ways, served as nurses and spies, and sometimes disguised themselves as men in order to serve.
   
   · 1,500 nurses were assigned to Army hospitals during the Spanish-American War. As a result of their performance, the Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901.
   
   · In World War I 33,000 women served not only as nurses but in other support roles as well. More than 400 nurses died in the line of duty.
   
   · During World War II more than 400,000 women served at home and abroad - as nurses, pilots, and in other non-combat roles. Eighty-eight women were captured and held as POWs.
   
   · The Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 granted women permanent status in the military.
   
   · During the Korean War women in the Reserves were recalled. Over 50,000 women served at home and abroad.
   
   · In the Vietnam War, 7,000 women were deployed. Most of them were nurses.
   
   · In 1967 the 2% legal cap on the number of women allowed in the military was repealed.
   
   · In 1973 the draft is ended and an all-volunteer force formed - creating opportunities for women.
   
   · In 1975 pregnant servicewomen may elect to remain on active duty.
   
   · In 1976 women are first admitted to the service academies.
   
   · In 1978 women are allowed to serve on non-combat ships.
   
   · In the Persian Gulf War, 41,000 women are deployed. Two are taken captive.
   
   · In 1991 Congress allows women to fly in combat missions.
   
   · In 1993 Congress permits women to serve on combat ships.
   
   · In 1998 a female fighter pilot flies combat missions in Operation Desert Fox.
   

   source: http://www.womensmemorial.org/Highlights.html

   
   
   
2. Explain that women currently make up 15% of U.S. military forces - a larger percentage than ever before. According to a 2002 Gallup Poll, a majority of Americans support women being allowed to serve in the military. Women are still barred from ground combat duty, as well as submarine duty.
   
   However, the women serving in Iraq have been deployed to a combat theater (a large geographic area in which military operations are coordinated) and thus face the same dangers and hardships as male troops. Note that the issue of women in the military has once again come to the forefront during this latest conflict in Iraq - most recently with the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch of the 507th Maintenance Company attacked near Nasiriya.
   
   Give your students the following NewsHour Extra story on the rescue of Private Lynch.
   
   

3. Allow your students to comment on the story. Debate the issue of women in the military using any or all of the following questions.
   
   
   · Young women are currently not required to register with the selective service are young men are - they have always served on a volunteer basis. Should they be eligible for a draft? Why or why not? What are your feelings about the draft?
   
   · Should all jobs in the military be open to women? Should they be allowed to participate in ground combat and serve on submarines? Why or why not? What are the concerns of those who would continue to bar women from these roles - or other jobs that they are currently permitted to do? Are these valid concerns? What opportunities does military service open to women (college funding, military officer, astronaut, commercial pilot, etc.)? Analyze.
   
   · What should the military do about the impact of deployment on military families? What do you think about the issues raised by the following being deployed: both parents of young children, single parents, pregnant women? (Parents are deployed while pregnant women are not.) How should the U.S. support those left behind during a time of war?
   
   · Young women are currently not required to register with the selective service as young men are - they have always served on a volunteer basis. Should they be eligible for a draft? Why or why not? What are your feelings about the draft?
   

Extension Ideas:

1. Research civilian or military women who made important contributions to the U.S. during wartime. What barriers did they overcome? What motivated them? What did they accomplish? Ideas include:
   
   · camp followers during the Revolutionary War
   · nurses during Civil War
   · Dr. Mary Walker (Medal of Honor, Civil War)
   · Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee (Spanish-American War)
   · nurses captured by Japanese during WWII
   · WASP pilots (WWII)
   · Anna Mae Hays (first Brigadier General)
   · Eileen Collins (first Space Shuttle commander)
   
   Additional Resource: Military Women Take 200-Year Trek Toward Respect, Parity
   By Rudi Williams
   American Forces Press Service
   http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug1998/n08121998_9808123.html
   
   
2. Select one of the following arguments sometimes made to explain why women should not be in combat, or even in the military. Research and analyze the statement. Who makes this argument and what evidence do they offer to support it? Who offers evidence to the contrary? Is it a good argument? Why or why not?
   
   
   · Women are not as strong as men. The military should not have to lower its standards.
   
   · Women may not be able to perform as well as men or survive difficult conditions.
   
   · Having women in a military force can weaken the group's effectiveness and cohesion.
   
   · Women have special needs and can get pregnant.
   
   
3. Examine the issue of sexual harassment or that of domestic abuse in the military. Look at recent cases. What responsibility does the military have to protect women in the military or the spouses of military men from abuse? What steps are being taken? How does the military differ from the larger society in terms of the numbers of reported cases and in how these cases are dealt with?
   
   
   
   
   National Standards:

1. National Council for the Social Studies Thematic Strands:
   
   II. Time, Continuity, and Change

   V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

   VIII. Science, Technology, and Society

   X. Civic Ideals and Practice

Author Lara Maupin teaches social studies at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. She is on leave during the 2002-2003 school year. She has a Master’s Degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College.

To find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman at extra@newshour.org.