Female Soldiers Fighting and Dying

Army News Service: Female Soldiers: fighting, dying for their country This story profiles several female soldiers killed in Iraq.

In October 1994 “The Risk Rule,†which was used to determine which assignments should be closed to women was rescinded, and that made 91 percent of the career fields gender neutral, according to officials from the Office of the Chief of Personnel, G1. That amendment to assignments policy and others like it allowed women like Bosveld and Capt. Kimberly Hampton to get closer to the action, G1 officials said.

Hampton was killed when her OH-58 Kiowa Warrior observation helicopter was attacked near the Iraqi town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. She was a company commander with 1st Battalion, 82nd Aviation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Hampton supported infantry Soldiers by providing fire support and observing ground action. She was the division̢۪s first company commander to die in the war on terror.

The story ends with a list of sixteen “Fallen Female heroes.” Almost all of them were combat service support personnel–in supply, transportation, or postal duties–but several were MPs and one was a recon helicopter pilot. There have been over 500 male soldiers killed in Iraq versus only sixteen females–indeed, the idea of a story about male soldiers per se would seem rather odd–but this does illustrate the changing nature of war. The old idea that there was a “rear area” that was safe is gone.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.