First Six Enlisted Women Sworn into the U.S. Navy
The first six enlisted women were sworn into the U.S. Navy on this day.
The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of June 12, 1948 allowed women to become permanent members of the armed forces.
The first women were admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis on July 6, 1976.
Landmarks in the history of women in the military include the change in policy on April 29, 2010, which allowed women to serve in submarines, and the Pentagon decision on January 24, 2013, which allowed women in all of the armed services to serve in combat missions.
Learn more: Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel Greenlee, A Few Good Women: America’s Military Women from World War I to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010)
And more about women in the military: http://www.military.com/topics/women-in-the-military