The Strong Ones: How a Band of Civilian Women Made Their Mark on the Army

Name: The Strong Ones: How a Band of Civilian Women Made Their Mark on the Army
Price: 14.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Sara Hammel
ISBN: 9780578794327

They said women couldn't keep up. They said women weren't strong enough to do the military's toughest jobs. In 1995, a ragtag band of civilians came to prove them wrong. The Strong Ones is the inspiring true story of forty-five civilian women, including the author, who volunteered for a controversial seven-month Army strength study in 1995 — and proved just how strong women can get. With females still banned from combat and their supposed lack of physical strength used as a reason to keep them out, women from around Massachusetts — including moms, teachers, a landscaper, a prison guard, a journalist and one solider — came to change the rules.

Author Sara Hammel, a test subject and reporter with exclusive access to the study, traces the women and their results through the years, revealing how their efforts came full circle decades later when all military jobs were opened up to women. A hybrid of memoir and military history that will appeal to fans of Wild and Ashley's War, The Strong Ones lays bare the raw emotions, vulnerabilities and body image struggles of those who dug deep to show what it means to be a strong woman — in every sense.