Page 8 - JSOM Fall 2022

arch 2022 was Women’s History Month, and we ap­ This year also is the 80th anniversary of
plaud the women, past and current, who are part of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. The
Mour military history. President Harry Truman signed passage of this seminal legislation – spon­
the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act on June 12, sored by Edith Nourse Rogers – formal­
1948, which enabled women to become full members of the ized the role of women in the US military
armed services, not just in times of war. However, Section 502 and compensated them for their service
of the act limited their service by excluding them from aircraft and in the event of injury or illness. Rog­
and vessels of the Navy that might engage in combat. It wasn’t ers was a pioneer in her own right, as
until 2015 that women were able to serve in all aspects of ser­ described in Edith Nourse Rogers: A Pi-
vice, including combat roles. oneer for Women, Military Veterans, and Edith Nourse Rogers
US Medical Education. A trailblazer for women and a staunch
Among many milestones reached by advocate for military veterans’ health care, Rogers was a con­
women in service, in July 2020, a Na­ gresswoman during World War II and was foundational to the
tional Guard soldier became the first modern US healthcare system.
woman to complete a Special Operations
training course and join an operational And about half of our articles in this edition have a female lead
team since that became possible with the author or coauthor.
2015 lifting of the combat ban. She was
also the first female graduate of the mod­ Operation Blood Rain Phase 2: Evaluating the Effect of Air-
ern Special Forces Qualification Course. drop on Fresh and Stored Whole Blood is a follow­up to
Harriet Tubman
She will join the Green Berets, an elite the proof­of­concept study on the effect of airdrop on whole
Army unit with specialized training responsible for sensitive blood (WB). In addition, this study confirms the statistical sig­
overseas missions. (In 1980, Army Capt Kate Wilder became nificance for the plausibility of using airdrop to deliver WB
the first woman to complete the Green Berets’ six­phase Qual­ to combat medics treating casualties in the prehospital setting
ification Course but never served as a Green Beret and the when Food Drug Administration–approved cold­stored blood
Army blocked other women from entering the program.) products are not available.

The unidentified warrior was told
“From here, you will go forward
and join the storied formation
of the Green Berets, where you PREP Team James
will do what you are trained to A. Haley Veterans’
do: challenge assumptions, break Hospital Tampa,
down barriers, smash through Florida
stereotypes” by Lt Gen Fran Susan Ahn Cuddy
Beaudette, commander of US
Army Special Operations Command during a ceremony at Fort
Bragg, NC.
Development and Evolution of a Comprehensive Mild Trau-
The percentage of women serving in the matic Brain Injury Inpatient Rehabilitation Program: A Nurs-
military services rose slightly from 15.1% ing Perspective describes an innovative approach to the
of the active­duty force in 2004 to 16.5% unique rehabilitation needs of active­duty Special Operations
in 2018, but female troops are 28% more Forces and veterans with chronic conditions related to their
likely than men to leave the military early. military service developed at the James A. Haley Veterans’
Hospital in Tampa, FL. The program, the Post­Deployment
A special article in this Rehabilitation and Evaluation Program (PREP), includes one
issue, Women in US nurse practitioner and eight staff registered nurses.
Colonel Ruby Bradley Military History, high­
lights just some of the women who have In Active Warfighter Resilience: A Descriptive Analysis, the
made a significant contribution to the US authors sought to psychometrically test resilience assessments
military. The author sought to recognize (Ego Resiliency Scale [ER89], Connor­Davidson Resilience
women for their military service and to Scale [CD­RISC 25], Responses to Stressful Experiences Scale
bring attention to the barriers they faced [RSES short­form]) and describe resilience levels in a Special
in service to our country. Operations Forces (SOF) combat sample. They concluded that
Eileen Marie Collins the ER89 may be a more optimal military resilience metric
than the other metrics studied; longitudinal research on SOF
combat Servicemember resilience is warranted.

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