Women in the Military : An Unfinished Revolution

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Summary: Women in the Military is Comprehensive and an Easy Read!
Review: As the title of my review indicates, this book was extremely thorough in its history of women in the military. It recounts the evolution of women serving in the military as early as the Civil War (by disquising themselves as men); through the World Wars, where women became increasingly recognized as a crucial asset, serving as aviators and nearly every other specialty outside of direct combat. The book continues through the 1960s and 1970s as legislation made women a permanent component of the US Armed Forces and concludes with the most recent demonstration of "womanpower" in the Persian Gulf. Throughout the book Maj Gen (ret) Holm offers first hand experience and detailed facts and statistics of this difficult and exciting evolution. This combination makes it an enjoyable book, reading more like a novel than a history book. This is a history not often retold, but critical to understanding "Women in the Military."

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Summary: From a Air Force Airmans point of view.
Review: I first purchased this book when I was serving in the Air Force overseas. I found it to be a clear and accurate account of what it is like to be a woman in the military. I was profoundly grateful that I was serving in a time where it was mainly whether or not I had the physical and mental qualifications to perform the job I was doing. I was (and in some ways still are) a avionics specialist, a job where I had to be tops in electronics yets still be able to lift avionics parts that weighed over 50 lbs over my head. I salute the women that came before me, paving the way, making advances so that I would consider it a matter of fact that I would be judged by my learned behaviors and not my sex. I think that if someone can do the job, physically and mentally, it should be allowed to them. It is sad to say that I still encountered those "women should be at home and not mucking about" in and out of the military but they did not bother me much, I set them straight using info from this book and my own personal experiance. This is a must read for any woman who wants to experiance our lives and way to push for true equality, judged only on capability and not blind religious dogma. Thank you General Holm (Ret.).