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Changing Wars Put GI Jane on Front Lines

By Mat Probasco,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 16, 2009 12:01 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Officially, US women soldiers aren't supposed to engage in the same bloody combat as their male counterparts. But as Iraq and Afghanistan force war to evolve, the military increasingly depends on female machine gunners and truck commanders, reports the New York Times. And female soldiers' mettle under fire has led to more high-ranking women and women commanding all-male units.

Women are picking up jobs men can't perform, such as searching potential female enemy combatants for weapons, often in combat zones. To get around rules barring women from combat roles, female soldiers are "attached" to various units, not "assigned." Even the overwhelmingly male Marine Corps has expanded its roles for women, creating revolving "lioness" units.



Spc. Monica Lin Brown stands guard at a forwarded operating base in Khost, Afghanistan. She was the second female soldier awarded the Silver Star since World War II.
Spc. Monica Lin Brown stands guard at a forwarded operating base in Khost, Afghanistan. She was the second female soldier awarded the Silver Star since World War II.   (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
armywife
Aug 17, 2009 12:34 PM CDT
i know y'all probably think you arent being patronizing, but you are.
cochiserocks
Aug 17, 2009 9:59 AM CDT
How about anyone who volunteers for a job they really want to do, passes their training and shows themselves to be dedicated, able and disciplined enough to do it...is allowed to get on with it without audience participation?
my-name-here
Aug 17, 2009 5:46 AM CDT
@ Mad... The Little Drummer Girl? The John Le Carre book adapted into a film with Diane Keaton? That was fiction, ya know...
US

 
Marine Corps • female soldiers

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