Military Use of Women in Combat: An Historical Perspective.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on Women in the Military. More specifically, it will be our objective to summarize historical data on the use of women in combat. To structure the presentation, the Brookings Institution text Women and the Military will be used as a baseline and we shall attempt to expand and or contradict Binkin and Bach (7) in two areas: Chapter 2, 'Looking Back' (U.S. history), and the Appendix, 'Foreign Experience'. Additionally, women combatants in ancient to 19th century history will be briefly discussed. History's message seems to be that within the scope of recent times, while women have been successfully utilized in the military to varying degrees, they have not seen employed in the combat role in other than situations meeting three criteria: a defensive struggle; on one's own territory; and in an underdog role. Further, it appears that in situations meeting these criteria, the actual use of women in combat has been extremely rate when compared to the numbers of men involved in the fighting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA195320
Entities
People
- H. M. Scarangella
- W. C. Keller
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School