They serve on missile crews, operate heavy equipment, and direct air traffic. They also provide essential support to combat troops in the field (Holm). .
It appears that the United States military is in a position where women are so fully and flexibly involved in the organizational structure, that in a war, it would be very difficult to separate them out. Yet, there are those who feel those women are not physically and mentally capable of withstanding the effects of combat. There are many grounds on which this argument could be disputed, but women have contributed greatly in past wars. They have served in combat in many skills during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam (Holm). .
One study (Binkin & Bach) found that many NATO and several WARSAW PACT countries employed women in combat roles during World War II. Russia was reported as using military women on the front lines. In Israel, where they are actually conscripted, women have also experienced armed combat. (Binkin & Bach) found that in the first phase of Israel's war of Liberation, one out of every five soldiers was female and they shared equality in both offensive and defensive battle situations. Holm found that some 7,500 military women served in S.E. Asia during the Vietnam War. She maintains that these women proved the modern American military woman is fully capable of functioning effectively in a military role in a combat environment, even under direct hostile fire. .
The United States Army has even conducted its own tests to examine the performance of individual units with women in the field, under simulated combat conditions (Hoar). The first test, labeled MAX-WAC (Women Content in Units Force Development Test) studied women in three-day field exercise, and assessed their effect on unit performance. The second test, REF-WAC, studied women in thirty-day sustained combat related exercises during the NATO annual REFORGER (Repositioning of Forces in Germany) exercises in Europe.
