FEMALE VETERANS
Female veterans have made significant contributions to the United States military, serving with distinction across all branches and in various capacities. Their experiences, however, present unique challenges that extend beyond the scope of sexual trauma. This section delves into the multifaceted struggles faced by female veterans, emphasizing their roles as service members and the obstacles they encounter during and after their military service.
Physical, Social, and Cultural Challenges
Integrating into traditionally male-dominated military environments poses distinct challenges for female service members. A 2015 Marine Corps study revealed that women in combat performance units experienced injuries at twice the rate of their male counterparts. Additionally, these units reported lower cohesion levels, with female soldiers often feeling isolated due to detrimental perceptions from male peers. This environment can hinder the formation of effective team dynamics and impact overall unit performance.
Gender-Specific Pressures and Misconceptions
Serving in a male-dominated military, women shoulder unique gender-related stressors on top of the usual rigors of deployment. For one, they often serve as a tiny minority in their units – women comprise about 16% of enlisted ranks and 18% of officers -
- which can lead to feelings of isolation and constant pressure to prove oneself.
Female troops frequently feel they must work harder to earn respect and avoid any mistake being attributed to their gender. “Being a woman in the military is a uniquely lonely experience,” one veteran noted, describing how servicewomen are promised a “brotherhood” but often remain perpetual outsiders in a hyper-masculine culture.
This minority stress is compounded by explicit bias and sexism that still persist. For example, Army veteran Stacy Keyte recalled that some male colleagues “considered women the weaker gender.” One NCO even taunted that she “should be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen” instead of in uniform.
Such derogatory attitudes foster a hostile environment in which female service members feel under constant scrutiny and undercut by stereotypes about their capabilities.
Beyond peer misconceptions, women in the military face significantly higher rates of gender-based threats, including sexual harassment and assault. Military Sexual Trauma (MST)—sexual assault or persistent harassment—is reported by about 1 in 4 servicewomen (versus 1 in 100 men), typically from fellow service members.
MST survivors have over seven times the risk of developing PTSD compared to those without sexual trauma, often experiencing more severe symptoms compounded by feelings of betrayal. Historically, mental health programs have prioritized combat PTSD, leaving MST survivors feeling unseen or misunderstood.
Women in Combat and Support Roles
Women have served in the U.S. military in unprecedented numbers and capacities over the past two decades. Today, women make up roughly 15–18% of U.S. active-duty forces and have deployed extensively to war zones. In fact, more than 280,000 women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and Pentagon officials acknowledge that modern missions “could not have been accomplished” without them. Despite earlier policies barring women from infantry or “front-line” jobs, recent conflicts had no clear front lines. Female soldiers in combat support roles (such as medics, military police, intelligence, pilots, drivers, etc.) often found themselves leaving base on convoys or coming under direct fire.
As one analysis noted, “whether they fire a weapon or not, [women] have been targets of the enemy just like their male colleagues."
The traditional distinction between combat and non-combat roles has thus blurred: a female supply clerk or mechanic stationed on a “safe” forward operating base might still endure regular mortar and rocket attacks, ambushes, or improvised explosive devices. These hazardous and psychologically taxing assignments can be just as traumatic as ground combat patrols, even if they are not always recognized as such. Front-line or not, many servicewomen have been wounded or even killed in action (over a hundred were killed in Iraq/Afghanistan), underscoring that women share the dangers of war.
Yet, a persistent misconception lingers that women “didn’t see combat.” This cultural myth creates a double bind for female service members. Female veterans report that when they reveal their military service, people often assume “you didn’t go in harm’s way, did you?” – implying that only men experience real combat. If a woman did serve in combat, she may face disbelief or dismissal; if she didn’t, her service may be devalued as not “real” military work.
As a 2019 report put it, female veterans are often “written off as not ‘real’ veterans” due to the flawed notion that only direct combat counts. This not only overlooks the reality that modern warzones expose everyone to danger, but also invalidates the sacrifices of those in support roles. Women have frequently endured combat-like stress, whether driving a Humvee through hostile territory or working on bases prone to attack by insurgents. Such experiences leave the same psychological scars even though they don’t fit the Hollywood image of combat.