ABSTRACT
The last two chapters have shown how counterinsurgency relies on a multiplicity of military masculinities performed by and embodied on, through, and between male soldiers. This chapter continues the exploration of how gender is performed and embodied in population-centric counterinsurgency by focusing on women. It analyses the multiple and complex ways in which women’s bodies are called into being through the deployment of Female Engagement Teams (FETs) as a part of US and later ISAF military operations in Afghanistan. FETs have existed as a volunteer assignment since 2009 in the US Marines (Nelson, 2009), but became a more integrated part of the counterinsurgency eff ort in the ISAF and the US Army from 2010 onwards. Following the onset of withdrawal, FETs were disbanded in August 2014 in the US military, with their responsibilities being handed over to an (overwhelmingly male) Afghan National Security Force (Lamothe, 2012).
