Gallery: Women in combat

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  • Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro and other Marines from Delta Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-East, receive final instructions prior to assaulting an objective during the Infantry Integrated Field Training Exercise aboard Camp Geiger, N.C., Nov 15, 2013. Montenegro is one of three female Marines to be the first women to graduate infantry training with the battalion. Delta Company is the first company at ITB with female students as part of a measured, deliberate and responsible collection of data on the performance of female Marines when executing existing infantry tasks and training events, the Marine Corps is soliciting entry-level female Marine volunteers to attend the eight week basic infantryman and infantry rifleman training courses at ITB. (U. S. Marine Corps photo by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul S. Mancuso/Released)
  • Airman 1st Class Natasha Libby examines the barrels of a Gau-2 mini gun mounted on an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter June 20, 2013, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Libby must inspect each part of the weapons systems on the HH-60 Pave Hawk to ensure safety and proper function. Libby is a 66th Rescue Squadron aerial gunner. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Daniel Hughes/Released)
  • Cpl. Kristine Tejeda, Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Task Force Steel Dragon, provides security for a tour of the ancient city of Ur in Dhi Qar province, Sept. 24, 2011.
  • 120125-N-DR144-077 ARABIAN SEA (Jan. 25, 2012) Pilot Lt. Ashley Ruic, left, Plane Commander Lt. Cmdr. Tara Refo, and Radar Operator Lt. j.g. Ashley Ellison, all assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125, dress out in the squadron’s ready room before joining two other VAW-125 officers in flying the first all-female-crewed combat mission in an E-2C Hawkeye aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/Released)
  • GULF OF ADEN (July 1, 2015) U.S. Marine Sgt. Jeanette Ventura, left, receives instruction from Sgt. Sean Bernstein on handling techniques for the M45 1911 A1 pistol during a female engagement team class aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). Ventura is an airframe mechanic with the Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Bernstein is a member of the 15th MEU’s Maritime Raid Force. The Marines are participating in a week-long screener to assess their knowledge of skills such as marksmanship, detainee handling, patrolling, and teaching skills. The 15th MEU is embarked on the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and deployed to maintain regional security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Elize McKelvey/ Released)
  • Air Force Tech. Sgt. Angela Pollard, medic attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, secures a bridge in Mehtar Lam, Laghman province, Sept. 7. A civil engineer team from the PRT traveled to the Jugi bridge in Mehtar Lam to asses the structural integrity following its recent completion, ensuring it will withstand the Afghan weather for years to come.
  • Sgt. Julie Nicholson, Female Engagement Team leader, Marine Headquarters Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, shakes hands with an Afghan child during a mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Nicholson‚Äôs team conducts searches of Afghan women and children and gains information from the women who are not permitted to interact with men outside of their families.
  • 110719-N-WW409-418 DARWIN, Australia (July 19, 2011) Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class Karen McMillan, from Los Angeles, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, participates in small arms weapons training with members of the Australian Northern Territory Tactical Response Group during exercise Talisman Sabre 2011. Talisman Sabre is a bilateral exercise intended to train Australian and U.S. Forces in planning and conducting combined task force operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jennifer A. Villalovos/Released)
  • COMISAF speaks with FET Members GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan — International Security Assistance Force commander Gen. John R. Allen speaks to Sgt. Maria Rodriguez (left) and Spc. Mellanie Harber, both members of the Female Engagement Team, 172nd Infantry Brigade, during Allen’s patrol of Zarin Village in Andar district, April 23. Rodriguez is from Houston and Harber is from Ft. Wayne, Ind. Both are based out of Grafenwoehr, Germany. (U.S. Army Photo by Master Sgt. Kap Kim)
  • From left to right, Pfc. Ajia Gumabon, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jessie Freeman, Capt. Katherine Wempe and Sgt. Natasha Elusme, all of 2nd GSAB, 1st Avn. Regt., CAB, 1st Inf. Div., pose for a photograph following a mission over Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 12. This is the first all-female crew for this brigade during this deployment. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Andrew Cochran
  • 110727-N-YQ852-080 GULF OF ADEN (July 27, 2011) Aviation Structural Mechanic Airman Ashley Botbyl, from Warwick, N.Y., scrubs down an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Blue Diamonds of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Ronald Reagan is conducting operations supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Shawnte Bryan/Released)
  • GULF OF ADEN (July 8, 2015) U.S. Marine Cpl. Justine Woodend aims at her target during a deck shoot aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). Woodend is with Combat Logistics Battalion 15, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and is participating in a week-long screener to become a member of a Female Engagement Team. The 15th MEU is embarked aboard the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and deployed to maintain regional security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Anna Albrecht/Released)
  • Female paratroopers from across Fort Bragg participate in the All Women Jump, celebrating the contributions of women in the U.S. Army for Women’s History Month, at Normandy Drop Zone, March 25, 2014. (Photo by Hope Myers/Paraglide)
  • First Lt. Christina Rath strains to complete a leg of the tire pull during the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division’s Dragoon Games March 24, 2013, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Rath, a native of Easton, Pa., placed first in the day-long competition of six events and was named the “Fittest Female Dragoon.” She is the Female Engagement Team officer-in-charge of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 212th Field Artillery of Task Force Angry Vikings. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Tynes)
  • 110716-N-ZZ999-012 ARABIAN SEA (July 16, 2011) Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Katelyn Aguirre, from Monahans, Texas, performs corrosion treatment on a laser-guided bomb aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Ronald Reagan and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting close-air support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Nolan Kahn/Released)
  • Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sgt. Shantel D. Limbo, Platoon 4040, November Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, marches her platoon during close-order drill practice Nov. 17, 2015, on Parris Island, S.C. Close-order drill helps transform recruits into Marines by developing teamwork and unit cohesion while instilling discipline by teaching habits of precision and immediate response to orders. Recruits are graded on their discipline, bearing and attention to detail during their final drill evaluation in the last week of training. Limbo, 27, is from Phoenix. November Company is scheduled to graduate Dec. 4, 2015. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 19,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for approximately 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Aaron Bolser)