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As the Army faces a potential 7% reduction in combat strength in only two years, women are proving to be the solution. With an unprecedented 18% increase in enlistment rates compared to just 8% for men, women’s leadership brings to bear an expanded pool of talent that fortifies long-term military readiness and provides strategic value to military and peace operations globally.
Women lead the charge
Recruitment offices once dominated by male applicants now see a steady stream of women signing contracts. Nearly 10,000 women joined active duty in 2024 alone, propping up a service that missed male recruitment targets by 25%. This shift is not incidental. As traditional male eligibility pools shrink, military strategists openly admit women now represent the most viable recruitment demographic, a reality underscored by their overrepresentation in education and skill-based qualifications critical for modern warfare.
While women comprise 17 percent of armed forces personnel, senior leadership remains overwhelmingly male, creating a “glass ceiling” that undermines retention.
The retention trap
Recruitment wins mask a devastating leak in the pipeline. A 2020 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that women exit military service 28% faster than men, with sexual violence and institutional distrust driving the exodus. Reports from the Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office between 2016 and 2021 also revealed that 1 in 4 assault survivors takes concrete steps to leave the military entirely, while 60% of servicewomen doubt their safety will be prioritized. These numbers highlight a troubling paradox: while military organizations depend on women to serve, they continue to face challenges in earning their trust and ensuring they feel safe enough to remain.
The Navy’s newly launched Women’s Initiatives Team indicates growing awareness within military leadership of this issue and aims to reverse it by fostering a more enabling environment, spreading awareness, and influencing policy changes to increase the recruitment and retention of servicewomen throughout the Navy. It will meet on a periodic basis to build community, develop best practices and discuss relevant issues, leading to opportunities for barrier removal by Navy leadership.
However, real change requires dismantling decades of entrenched culture. Childcare limitations, uneven promotion pathways and the daily grind of proving competence in male-dominated spaces further strain retention.
Policy frameworks that empower
The conversation on recruitment and retention cannot ignore the importance of policy frameworks like the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, championed by organizations such as Our Secure Future (OSF). By leveraging insights from UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans, OSF has demonstrated how incorporating women’s perspectives enhances operational effectiveness. Implementing UNSCR 1325 and WPS National Action Plans is essential not only for advancing women’s participation and leadership, but also for enhancing the operational effectiveness of military organizations. Local cultural understanding and organizational diversity are critical and such implementation equips forces to navigate the complex challenges of stabilization more effectively.
The proof on the frontlines
Policy frameworks laid the groundwork, but it’s on the frontlines where the value of women can be proven. In Afghanistan, for example, Marine Corps Task Force Lioness deployed female teams
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to conduct culturally sensitive searches, disrupting insurgent tactics that exploited gender norms to hide weapons and operatives. Army Cultural Support Teams later formalized this approach, enabling access to local populations closed off to male soldiers. Special Operations Command took notice, embedding women with Green Berets and Rangers for high-stakes missions.The United Nations rightly underscores the critical importance of integrating female soldiers and their perspectives into peace operations, particularly where military and civilian responsibilities intersect. As noted in an Inclusive Security report on implementing UNSCR 1325 for military effectiveness, female personnel play a vital role in addressing the specific needs of women and girls, such as supporting the demobilization and reintegration of female ex-combatants. They are also uniquely positioned to interview survivors of gender-based violence, mentor female cadets in military and police academies, and engage with women in communities where cultural norms restrict interaction with men.
Beyond these functional roles, female soldiers also serve as powerful role models, encouraging local women and girls to claim their rights and participate in peacebuilding efforts. Though these contributions may not align with traditional notions of military combat power, they are increasingly indispensable in the multifaceted operations that define modern peacekeeping and military operations.
Ukraine’s defense against Russia offers the latest validation. Its military recruited 70,000 women as snipers, tank commanders and medevac pilots, who now anchor frontline units. Yet even there, cultural resistance persists. Reports indicate that male commanders often marginalize female soldiers, wasting critical skills in a war of survival.
Research stresses that modern conflicts demand this duality: women securing villages by day and mentoring cadets by night, blending combat rigor with community trust-building. As OSF emphasizes, failing to harness this full spectrum doesn’t just disadvantage women, it undermines mission success.
The data leaves no ambiguity. Women will enlist, lead and fight when given the chance. But until militaries address the affliction of sexual violence and institutional bias, they’ll keep losing their best recruits to preventable failures.