themselves. Some mention a larger purpose that their male counterparts
do not: They want to make life better specifically for women and girls—in
their country, the region, and the world.
AT LEAST 16 INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS permit women to serve in frontline
or combat roles. Women have served as an official part of the U.S. military
in noncombat—but nonetheless dangerous—roles since Congress estab-
lished the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In addition to working as nurses,
they were radio operators and logistical staff and, more recently, helicopter
pilots and tank mechanics.
Even when policy allows women in combat roles, commanders may
blanch at sending them. But in this era of terrorist attacks and ethnic
clashes, women serving anywhere “can find themselves in combat,
because the battlefield is nonlinear,” says Marine Lt. Col. Misty Posey,
commander of female marine recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina,
for two years, until mid-2019. “If you’re admin, if you’re supply, you could
be in combat. And they all know that.”
united statesGetting by on
minimal rations and
sleep, Parris Island
marine recruits shout
encouragement to
each other as they haul
themselves up ropes
during the 54-hour
exercise known as the
Crucible. The demand-
ing exercise includes
challenges such as
this rope climb and 50
miles of marching while
carrying weapons.IN THE FIGHT 139