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AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR
American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) -
American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Women served the U.S. Army in traditional roles as nurses, seamstresses and cooks for troops in camp. In October of 1778 Deborah Samson (pictured) of Plympton, Massachusetts disguised herself as a young man and presented herself to the American army as a willing volunter to oppose the common enemy. -
Dix named Superintendant of Women Nurses for Union Army
Secretary of War appointed Dorothea Lynde Dix as Superintendent of Women Nurses for the Union Army. More than 6,000 women performed nursing duties for the federal forces. At age 59--offered her services to the Union Army. Although Dix was not formally trained as a nurse, her tenacity and exceptional organizational skills impressed the secretary of war, -
Mary Walker earns Congressional Medal of Honor
During the Civil War Dr. Mary Walker was held for four months in a Confederate prison camp, accused of being a spy for the Union Army. Only women to earn MOH. "I am the original new woman...I was already wearing pants...I have made it possible for the bicycle girl to wear the abbreviated skirt, and I have prepared the way for the girl in knickerbockers." -
First women Acting Assistant Surgeon in the Army
Thousands of US soldiers sick with typhoid, malaria and yellow fever, overwhelm the capabilities of the Army medical department. Surgeon General requested and received congressional authority to appoint women nurses under contract.
Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, Vice President of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was placed in charge of selecting graduate members for the Army. -
Nurse Corps becomes permanent part of medical department
Because of the exemplary performance of Army contract nurses during the Spanish-American War, the U.S. military realized that it would be helpful to have a corps of trained nurses, familiar with military ways, on call. The Nurse Corps became a permanent corps of the Medical Department under the Army Reorganization Act (31 Stat. 753) passed by Congress. Nurses were appointed to the Regular Army for a 3-year period, -
Kinney appointed first Superintendant of the Army Nurse Corps
Dita H.Kinney, a former contract nurse, was officially appointed the first Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps, a position she held until she resigned in July 1909. -
World War I (1917-1918): Women volunteer with civilian organizations
There were 403 nurses on active duty, including 170 reserve nurses who had been ordered to duty in twelve Army hospitals in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Women volunteered with civilian organizations to provide nursing, transportation and other war relief services. Pictured, US Army Signal Corps telephone operators or "Hello Girls," Tours, France, WWI. Elizabeth Anne Browne Collection, Gift of L.C. Jones. Women's Memorial Foundation Collection. -
Congress approves creation of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Although the idea of women in the Army other than the Army Nurse Corps was not completely abandoned following World War I, it was not until the threat of world war loomed again that renewed interest was given to this issue. In May 1941, the Honorable Edith Nourse Rogers, Congresswoman from Massachusetts, introduced a bill for the creation of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Spurred on by the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, Congress approved the creationof the WAAC. -
Women arrive for training
The first WAAC Training Center opened at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, under the command of Col. Don C. Faith, and the arrival of the first women and their subsequent training brought considerable public interest. The first women arrived at Fort Des Moines. -
Mary McLeod Bethune
African American activist and educator Mary McLeod Bethune</a> isn't normally thought of as a major contributor to the nation's defense efforts, but she lobbied the War Department during World War II to commission black women officers in what became the Women's Army Corps.
Bethune became the national commander of the Women's Army of national Defense, an all-black women's organization. -
Women's Army Corps (WAC) Established
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation which changed the name of the Women's Army Auxiliary (WAAC) to the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) gaining full military status. Photo: Members of the WAC Detachment - Camp Hale, Colorado -
German Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl of the German High Command signed the terms of an unconditional surrender in Reims, France.
VE Day proclaimed. In World War II, 160 members of the WAC died from various non-combat causes. More than 639 medals were awarded to members of the WAC to include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. Three Presidential Citations were received as a result of service in the European Theater of Operations. -
WAC headed to France
Upon arrival at Le Havre, France, from the U.S. WAC reinforcements board U.S. Army Trucks that will carry them to camp in a nearby area. August 7, 1945 (National Archives). -
Congress establishes Regular Army Nurse Corps in the Army
The 80th Congress passed Public Law 36, which established the Regular Army Nurse Corps branch in the U.S. Army Medical Department. The act also established the Army Nurse Corps section of the Officer Reserve Corps, and allowed them in the Army National Guard and the Air Guard. -
President Truman signs Women's Armed Servies Integration Act
Act enabled women to serve as permanent, regular members of the armed forces in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the recently formed Air Force. Prior to this act, women, with the exception of nurses, served in the military only in times of war. -
Hobby becomes first WAAC director
Oveta Culp Hobby was sworn in as the first WAAC Director. The WAAC adopted Pallas Athene, Greek goddess of victory and womanly virtue – wise in peace and in the arts of war – as its symbol. -
Vietnam
Some 7,000 American military women served in Southeast Asia. More than 250,000 women served during Vietnam. -
Promotion restrictions lifted
Public Law 90-130, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson removed promotion restrictions on women officers in the Armed Forces. Thereafter, it was possible for more than one women in each service to hold the rank of colonel and for women to achieve general (or flag) officer rank. -
Hays promoted to Brigadier General
On Nov. 8, 1967, after removal of restrictions on the careers of female officers, women of the Army Nurse Corps and the Women’s Army Corps were authorized promotion consideration under the same promotion procedures applicable to men in the Regular Army.
O Col. Anna Mae Hays, 13th Chief of the ANC, was promoted to brigadier general, the first nurse in the history of the American military to attain flag rank. -
First WAC promoted to BG
The first WAC officer to be promoted to brigadier general was Col. Elizabeth P. Hoisington, while serving as the 7th Director of the WAC. -
First women cadets at West Point
119 women become the first women cadets at West Point when they join the Class of 1980. -
Women enter serivce academies
President Ford signed Public Law 94-106 that permitted women to be admitted to all service academies beginning in 1976. -
WAC Director position dissolved
In a ceremony at the Pentagon, the Army formally dissolved the position of Director, WAC. Brig. Gen. Clarke was immediately reassigned as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Military Police and Chemical Corps Schools and Training Center, Fort McClellan. -
WAC disestablished
As a means of assimilating women more closely into the structure of the Army and to eliminate any feeling of separateness from it, the office of the Director, WAC was discontinued on 26 April 1978. The Women's Army Corps as a separate corps of the Army was disestablished on 29 October 1978 by an Act of Congress. -
First women graduate from West Point
The first women cadets graduated form the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.. 62 women graduate with the Class of 1980. Andrea Hollen, the first woman to graduate, is also the Academy's first woman to win a Rhodes Scholarship. -
Operation Just cause
More than 700 women went to Panama in support of Operation Just Cause. Capt. Linda Bray led 30 Soldiers of the 988th Military Police company into combat to seize an enemy objective near Panama City. Her role ignited the debate over the role of women in the combat roles in the Army. -
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
More than 40,000 U.S. military women served in key combat-support positions throughout the Persian Gulf Region. 16 women died during the war and two were held prisoners. -
Cornum captured during Operation Desert Storm
Operation Desert Storm saw the capture and imprisonment of an Army Flight Surgeon, Major Rhonda Cornum and an Army Transportation Specialist-Sp4 Melissa Rathbun-Nealy. -
Department of Defense recindes "Risk Rule"
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1 in 7 U.S. Military Personnel in Iraq is Female
The war with Iraq will be the largest deployment of women to a combat theater to date, marking more than a century of women's military service. "We're just like the guys. We're all going to be dodging bullets," says Warglo, pointing out that runways are major military targets. "You don't have to be on the front line to be somewhere your life is in danger," adds Brady. -
Hester first women to receive Silver Star since WWII
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, vehicle commander, 617th Military Police Company, Richmond, Ky., stands at attention before receiving the Silver Star at an awards ceremony at Camp Liberty, Iraq, June 16. Photo by Spc. Jeremy D. Crisp, USA. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester fought her way through an enemy ambush south of Baghdad, killing three insurgents with her M-4 rifle to save fellow soldiers' lives. -
Dunwoody promoted to four-star general
For the first time in U.S. history, a woman military officer today pinned on the rank of four-star general. Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody was promoted just hours before taking the helm of the Army Materiel Command, a Fortune 100-sized organization with nearly 130,000 servicemembers at 150 locations worldwide charged with equipping, outfitting and arming the service's soldiers. -
Unsung World War II heroes finally get their due
Some 65 years after their service, the 300 surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots are being honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. Photo: Women Airforce Service Pilot Elizabeth L. Gardner prepares for takeoff at a Texas airfield. -
Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq — There is no mistaking that this dusty, gravel-strewn camp northeast of Baghdad is anything other than a combat outpost in a still-hostile land. And there is no mistaking that women in uniform have had a transformative effect on it. -
First female commandant takes reins at Drill Sergeant School
Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa King became the first female commandant of the Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson, S.C. King said it is important to note that a hard worker will shine, regardless of gender. -
Women Break Combat Barrier
As the convoy rumbled up the road in Iraq, Specialist Veronica Alfaro was struck by the beauty of fireflies dancing in the night. Then she heard the unmistakable pinging of tracer rounds and, in a Baghdad moment, realized the insects were illuminated bullets. Photo: Gevasio Sanchez, Associated Press
