The VA joins the nation in observing Women’s History Month by honoring women veterans for their significant historical contributions and encouraging them to take advantage of the VA benefits they’ve earned.
“VA honors women veterans of all eras for their courage and sacrifice,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “These veterans, and those who currently serve in uniform, are part of a proud history of women defending our nation. Today, women veterans are recognized for more varied roles and operations, but women have always been critical to our military.”
Women serve in every branch of the military, representing 15 percent of today’s active duty military and nearly 18 percent of National Guard and Reserve forces. They serve as gunners, police, pilots, truck drivers and fuel suppliers. By 2020, VA estimates women veterans will constitute 10 percent of the veteran population.
The largest group of women veterans today served in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and/or Operation New Dawn. Women make up nearly 12 percent of this group of veterans.
Fifty-five percent of female OEF/OIF/OND veterans have utilized VA health care; of these, 89 percent have used VA health care more than once. 49.5 percent of female OEF/OIF/OND veterans who used VA care during FY 2002-11 were 30 or younger.
VA recently launched a “Stories of Service” video series depicting the role of women in the military, available at www.womenshealth.va.gov. In these three- to five-minute video vignettes, women veterans spanning various eras and service branches talk about their experiences in the military and how they made VA benefits work for them.
VA offers employment services, education benefits, compensation for service-connected illnesses or injuries, and home loan guarantees, as well as high-quality, gender-specific health care for qualifying women veterans. As part of an aggressive initiative to improve health care services for women veterans, VA established a women veteran call center to reach out to women veterans to advise them about available services.
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