Existing comment:
1948: The Women's Armed Services Integration Act gave women a permanent place in the military and in all Reserve branches.
1949: Air Force Nurse Corps established.
1951: The Defense Advisory Council on Women in Services (DACOWITS) Meets for the first time.
1967: Public Law 90-130 removed promotion restrictions on women, allowing them to promote above O-4.
1969: Air Force Recruit Officer Training Corps opens to women.
??: Nurses deployed with combat groups during the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts. Advances in medical technology meant that more lives could be saved, but casualties needed immediate attention. Working in front-line MASH units, air evacuation teams, hospital ships, and home-front facilities, women served thousands of lives.
1972: Army and Navy ROTC open to women.
1972: ENS Rosemary Nelson become the first female Supply Corps officers to receive a non-medical berth on board a ship.
1973: The first female Naval aviator enters training.
1976 ??: Service academies opened their doors to women in 1976. The female cadets and midshipmen survived challenging academics and discrimination, paving the way for future generations of female officers. This year, Annapolis inducted 295 female plebes, a record-breaking 34% of the Class of 2016.
1978: WAC finally disestablished and women integrated into Regular Army.
1979: The first women takes command of a government ship, the USCGC Newhagen.
1988: The first Navy woman joins NASA.
2006: The first female Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard is appointed.
2007: Last Yeoman (F) passes away.
??: Marine Corps and Army women begin serving in front-line ground combat battalions. Navy women are joining submarine crews. For the first time, female officers are earning their dolphin pins and accepting billets on larger submarines. Space limits prevent enlisted women from serving and no women are allowed on small fast-attack submarines yet LT Vanessa Esch, second from left, is one of the first women to serve on the USS Ohio (55GN-725). |