Title of Submission
Degree Program
Applied Historical Research, MS
Major Advisor Name
David Walker
Type of Submission
Scholarly Poster
Abstract
Integration of women into combat roles within the U.S. military was announced in December 2015. Criticisms continue to arise questioning the capabilities of women, discussing training standards, performance results, and combat effectiveness. My project seeks to persuade those opposed to the decision that women can succeed on the battlefield by using examples from World War II. Russia utilized up to a million women, fully demonstrating their potential. Their experiences prove women can perform comparable to men. These examples are relevant, both in politics and society, when debating gender, deeply entrenched cultural norms, governmental policies, and the direction military is headed.