Women Marines in Counterinsurgency Operations: Lioness and Female Engagement Teams

摘要

During the course of the last 20 years, the character of war has changed; conventional fighting is no longer the norm and insurgent tactics are more prevalent. The battlefield is congruent, as Iraq and Afghanistan have shown, there is no longer a front line or an identifiable rear area. As the character of war continues to change, the US military must change as well. The U.S. military has adapted to overcome the Middle Eastern cultural gender sensitivities by utilizing women Marines to engage with the Iraqi and Afghan female population. Attaching Lioness and Female Engagement Teams to ground combat units is very successful in increasing security, information operations, and relations building. This paper is a detailed analysis of these two specific programs proving that women play a vital role in current counterinsurgency operations.