Complicated Alliances: Accounts of Career Women in the U.S. Armed Forces and Women Who Love Men In the U.S. Armed Forces

In 2019, there were about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, less than one-half of 1 percent of the U.S. population. The Army is the largest U.S. military service, followed by the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The Space Force became its own branch of the Armed Services in 2019. When the draft ended in 1973, women represented just 2 percent of the enlisted forces and 8 percent of the officer corps. Today, those numbers are 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively, a significant increase over the past half century. COMPLICATED ALLIANCES is an anthology where nine women recount the struggles of maintaining a career while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or being married to a service member in the U.S. Armed Forces. The adverse impact of moving every 2-3 years resulted in underemployment, unemployment, and being overlooked for promotional opportunities. To lessen the impact some women sought advanced education to balance out their resume. What the women later found out was, that even a masters or doctorate degree could not protect them from the biases of some hiring managers. Read about the struggles, persistence and successes of the women.