4 FEB, 2013, 04.17AM IST, ET BUREAU 

Lady cadet

The first military uniforms for American women were designed in London by Major Horner. It was a smart uniform in two colours on the lines of the Ameriacn army uniform. The tunic was of khaki cloth and the skirt of a lighter shade. The shoulder fl ash in red bore the initials 'U.S.A.' The smart forage cap was marked with the letters 'US' British Poster A British recruitment poster urging women to work in the munitions factories as part of Britain's homefront during World War I Churchill's Daughter US Women In Uniform Viet Cong Mary Spencer-Churchill worked for the Red Cross and the Women's Voluntary Service from 1939 to 1941, and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service with whom she served in London, Belgium and Germany in mixed anti-aircraft batteries, rising to the rank of junior commander (equal to captain) A small group of North Vietnamese women undergoing rifl e training before joining Viet Cong forces during the Vietnam War, September 11, 1967.


Their weapons are of American origin. The US lifted its ban on women in front-line combat roles last week in a historic step towards gender equality in its armed forces after 11 years of nonstop war, during which the front lines were often not clearly defi ned. The decision to lift the ban comes with important caveats, and sweeping change will not happen overnight for women, nearly 300,000 of whom have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. There are a dozen or so nations that allow women in combat roles. Here's a smattering: