Women take on major battlefield roles

[spindrifter]

By SHARON COHEN
AP National Writer

A goodwill mission to deliver kerosene heaters to Iraqi schools erupts into the fiery chaos of a roadside bombing - and Maj. Mary Prophit shields a comrade so he can rescue a critically burned Iraqi soldier.

<snip>

In Iraq and Afghanistan, women warriors are writing a new chapter in military history, serving by the tens of thousands, fending off enemy fire and taking on - and succeeding in - high-profile roles in the battlefield and the skies as never before.

"The American public is beginning to realize that women are playing an equal part in this war and that they are facing the same risks," says Duckworth, who lost both legs in the 2004 insurgent attack. "This is the first time in our nation's history ... when it's normal to see female names as part of the war wounded or those killed in action."

More than 155,000 women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, according to the Pentagon, nearly four times the number during the Persian Gulf War. Females now account for 15 percent of the active duty force.

<more>

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WOMEN_IN_WAR?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[whathappened]

1. 155,000 more women

serving our country then old a.w.o.l. jr hiding behind his mommie's skirt back when he should have been in vietnam

[sarge43]

3. There's been nearly 3 million women in service since

1901 when the Army Nurse Corps was established.

[Mythsaje]

2. Primarily because there are no "front lines" in this war...

It exists everywhere at once.

And we NEED the swomen in the supporting roles they now fill. So women are facing the same dangers the men face.

If anything I believe this war will be the beginning of the end of the belief that women cannot serve in combat.