ABSTRACT
Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm proved defi nitely to the American public (but not necessarily to the leadership of the Armed Forces) what servicewomen were capable of. More than 11 percent of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia were women, who worked quietly and capably alongside the male members of their units. The U.S. Armed Forces gave the press excellent access to the battle theater throughout the operation and the media covered the war thoroughly. In every newscast, the American public saw deployed servicemen and women working together to accomplish their military missions, and the public came to accept women in uniform and in danger. The press also honed in on another captivating story-military parents-many of them young mothers, leaving their children behind to go to war. Although a few commentators worried about the impact of a mother’s absence on the children, most observers seemed to applaud these women’s patriotic sacrifi ce. Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm led to a general acceptance of servicewomen in the public mind and made the phrases “men and women in uniform” and “servicemen and women” as opposed to “men in uniform” and “servicemen” popular for the fi rst time. Approximately 31,000 Army women were deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. Army women served in combat support and combat service support positions. Combat support units provide direct operational help to combat units and include military police, civil engineering, the transportation of personnel and equipment via truck or helicopter and communications and intelligence support. Combat service support positions provided logistical, technical and administrative services such as personnel, postal, medical and fi nance to the combat arm. For the United States Navy, Operation Desert Shield became the largest and fastest sealift ever undertaken. More than 240 ships carried more than 9 million tons of supplies and equipment to sustain the gathering military force. Approximately 4,500 Navy women assigned to medical units, support
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ships, aviation units, construction battalions and cargo handling groups deployed to Saudi Arabia. Navy women served aboard oilers, destroyers, tender and ammunition supply ships and two hospital ships. The 4,250 Air Force women deployed to Saudi Arabia during the war crewed aboard the tanker aircraft that refueled bombers and fi ghters, served aboard AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) aircraft that controlled air traffi c, and serviced, repaired and armed aircraft headed for combat. Initially, the fi rst Marine Corps units to deploy pulled female Marines and held them back for several days before deploying them. Commanders did not feel comfortable sending women in until sanitary facilities (latrines) could be built. Some of the women were upset by the delay. After the women arrived in the Gulf, they were quartered aboard air-conditioned ships while the males in their units suffered in warehouses on shore. Both men and women were upset by the difference in their treatment and unit cohesion was threatened. Commanders then decided to house units together on shore, and the preferential treatment ended. Women Marines ultimately became part of a support base well forward of most infantry units. Male and female Marines worked together to set up the base from scratch. Approximately 1,200 Marine Corps women were deployed to Saudi Arabia during the war. Because the Coast Guard’s offi cial mission entails guarding the shores of the United States, its mission in the Persian Gulf was limited, and as a result only 14 Coast Guard women deployed to the Gulf. One of the most annoying problems that servicewomen faced while in Saudi Arabia was dealing with the religious and cultural conventions of a country where women were routinely kept out of sight in the home. U.S. servicewomen were expected to conform to the Saudi dress code for women: no skin was supposed to show above a woman’s wrists or ankles to prevent men from lusting after them. Servicewomen were granted a dispensation so they did not have to wear face or hair covers, but it was hard trying to keep covered up in daily temperatures of 120 degrees. Male soldiers wore tee shirts and shorts, but servicewomen were expected to wear long sleeved shirts and pants. Servicewomen dealt with other restrictions as well; they couldn’t drive military vehicles or accompany men into restaurants. While servicewomen who worked in urban areas had to conform, those assigned to U.S. bases in the desert did not experience as many problems. They were able to dress like their male colleagues and only experienced strictures when they had to travel into town. Servicewomen noticed that the military’s acquiescence to the Saudi culture made it easier for the men who believed that women didn’t belong in the military. “They make constant jokes about how we could learn something about subservience from the Saudi women,” said one Air Force lieutenant. “We don’t think it’s very funny.” Unbelievably, in some areas of the country, the U.S. military required servicewomen to wear abayas, a head to toe dark garment that covered them completely. When the women complained, they were told that they were guests of the Saudi government and should follow the rules. Many women thought privately that had Saudi Arabia followed apartheid rules, it is doubtful the military would have agreed to place limitations on minority soldiers. The U.S. Armed Forces learned that combat exclusion and combat probability coding policies could not keep servicewomen safe from harm during war; six servicewomen died during the operations, several others died in the days immediately after the ceasefi re. Two Army women, one offi cer and one enlisted, were captured by the Iraqi Army and held as POWs. Of course, not all servicewomen
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deployed to the Gulf during the war; thousands remained in their assigned jobs in the United States and thousands more were deployed to other regions, many to “back fi ll” for units that had deployed to Saudi Arabia. If Operation Desert Storm was “the test” of the All Volunteer Force and its unprecedented reliance on volunteers, women and reservists, it passed with fl ying colors. The American public saw women doing their jobs without complaint on television every night and accepted the roles servicewomen were playing. When servicewomen gave their lives for their country, there were few outcries from the public. After the war Congress, refl ecting public opinion, expanded the roles women could perform in combat by rescinding the statutes that barred women from serving aboard combat aircraft and vessels. The history of women’s military service to the nation entered another era.
