Since the beginning of a need for military, women have been under unfair treatment and longed for equivalent rights to the men alongside them. Before America entered the Vietnam War, the Women’s Army Corps started in 1942 to push towards integrating women into the army. As the war started in 1954, women began to earn more rights. However, even women who served in Vietnam did not earn the full credit they deserved. Agnes Feak, a veteran from Vietnam provides an example of this. “ For eight years, my husband didn’t know I was a vet.” I kept my mouth shut when I came home. He found a photo of me in fatigues and said, ‘Who’s that?’ And I said, ‘That’s me.’” ( source). Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s decision to open all military combat positions …show more content…
Before this ban was lifted, women couldn’t be tankers or an infantryman along with many other jobs. Military leaders used the words “assigned” and “attached” as loopholes to justify women serving at the battalion level in combat. The reasoning was if they “attached” women rather than “assign” them, the women weren’t technically holding the combat position title. “The reason that they had to go to such theatrics without violating the policy is because the women were needed” (glamour). The commanders wanted to be able to choose from the best candidates available, regardless of gender. If an intelligence officer was needed in an infantry battalion and a woman service member available and “she was the best person—not the best woman—that’s who the commander wanted” (glamour). This is how women have been “attached” throughout the past ten years to serve in infantry units. This also occurred with medics who went on long missions with infantry platoons. Since 9/11 there have been 250,000 women deployed, many of which served side-by-side with men …show more content…
But now they will necessarily receive equal support any medical issues, injuries, and PTSD. Care will be more readily available to women because of Carter’s decision. “ I think unfortunately before, there may have been a mentality that when a woman was seeking behavioral health services, it was something that was just in her head, and that it wasn’t related to PTSD” ( glamour). This helps bring awareness to how dangerous conditions were in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also helps give credibility to the women and solidify the amount of danger they faced. In the past ten years, the female veteran population rapidly grew. The male veteran population is expected to decrease by numbers around 4 million men whereas the female veteran population is expected to grow 2.2 % by the year 2020 (glamour). Because of this, the VA must have proper staff in place to handle the differences in medical necessities for women such as the need for an OBGYN. By addressing the VA aids in a smoother integration process. In regards to PTSD, in women it’s relatively new so it is still being studied. Many times, PTSD in women (both civilian and service women) is linked to sexual trauma. The VA has its own acronym for this, naming it MST, or military sexual trauma. It relates to both assault and sexual harassment during military