The Utilization of Women in the Military

In the decade of the 1970s there will be an increase in the number and percent of women in the United States military. Trends indicate that this rise will move steadily but gradually from less than 2 percent women in the armed services to approximately 4 percent. Although the number and percent of women in uniform will remain small, their increase will assist in meeting the expected "short fall" in manpower. The trend to expand the number of women in the military will continue in the 1980s, but it seems unlikely that a 10-percent level, which could be considered possible, will be reached. Historically in industrialized countries women have been excluded from armed combat roles and significant positions in administration. They have served as nurses, secretaries, and clerks and in routine types of communications. Each service has made plans and proposals to increase the number of women and the variety of jobs open to them and to deal with other expressed dissatisfactions, such as living quarters and regulations related to the retention of the careers of married women. Additional problems of protocol between the sexes and the integration of women in the military will have to be faced. Although it is likely that the military will continue its tradition of excluding women from direct combat positions, with an increased emphasis on deterrence there will be an increase in the number of positions in which the "fighting spirit" is irrelevant, many of which will become available to women.