ABSTRACT
Women combatants challenge conventional assumptions of war, security and gendered protection. This chapter suggests that women in combat support positions might also shake and shape conventional notions of today's wars. In the current era of “new wars”, advanced militaries are steadily moving to what is known as “high-tech wars” whose operational elements include controlling drones, conducting surveillance and applying various other techniques that contribute to the achieving of military goals. Some of these high-tech elements are conducted through modern, sophisticated and highly equipped war rooms, i.e., command centers that serve as points of coordination for military activities. The current study focuses on the experiences of women soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces in war rooms located in proximity to the battlefield – in this case, in actual conflict zones on Israel's various borders. In fact, in the past decade, more women soldiers have become significant participants in war by virtue of their assignment as combat support soldiers to strategic war rooms, some of them even commanding the war rooms. The findings of this study suggest that the stationing of women in war rooms located on the front lines may challenge both traditional concepts of security and war, and traditional gender roles.
