WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- About 10 percent of the U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are now women, the biggest female contingent in forward units in the country's history.
Veterans quoted in a recent a Department of Defense report described the female soldiers as essential, the Hartford, Conn., Courant said Tuesday. One said the military "can't accomplish the mission without women."
Women still cannot serve in combat units like the infantry and armor. But in Iraq and Afghanistan, female military police and truck drivers are likely to come under enemy fire.
Two have been awarded Silver Stars, becoming the first women to receive the medal since World War II.
"It really doesn't have anything to do with being a female," said Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester an MP decorated after being credited with killing three insurgents in a 2005 firefight. "It's about the duties I performed that day as a soldier."
