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- January 2: Yang Seung Sook becomes the first woman general in the history of the South Korean military.
- March: Vernice Armour becomes the first African-American female combat pilot in the United States military.
- May 31: Captain Philippa “Pip” Tattersall becomes the first female British commando.
- September 26: Three female airforce officers are appointed as airforce fighter pilots in South Korea, making them the first women to become fighter pilots in the history of the country.
- 2003 US Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal emerges.
- SGT Jeanette Arocho-Burkart, USA, is reprimanded for her interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay.
- PFC Jessica Lynch, USA, was embroiled in a controversy over differing accounts of her capture and rescue in Iraq.
- Shoshana Johnson becomes the first black female prisoner of war in United States history.
- March 23: SPC Lori Piestewa, USA, is killed in action. She is the first woman soldier to be killed in action in the 2003 Iraq Conflict and the first Native American woman to be killed in action while serving in the United States Military.
- April 7: Capt Kim Campbell, USAF, gains favorable notice when she successfully pilots her aircraft back to base despite extensive damage in a combat mission.
- April 13: Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. soldier, becomes the first American female soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq War.
- June: Maj Gen Trudy H. Clark, USAF, is appointed Deputy Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
- June 26: Serbian politician Biljana Plavšić begins serving her sentence for war crimes.
- November 2: SPC Frances M. Vega, USA, becomes the first female soldier of Puerto Rican descent to die in a combat zone.
- American Iraq veteran Kelly Dougherty founds Iraq Veterans Against the War.
- Brig Gen Dana H. Born, USAF, becomes the dean of faculty at the United States Air Force Academy, the first woman to hold that position.
- January 2: CPT Kimberly Hampton, USA, becomes the first female military pilot to be shot down and killed by an enemy in United States history.
- April 9: Spc. Michelle Witmer is killed in Baghdad. She is the first woman from the United States National Guard to be killed in action in history.
- October 30: SPC Megan Ambuhl, USA, is convicted of dereliction of duty at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in relation to detainee abuse.
- October 31: S/Sgt Denise Rose, British Army, becomes the first female British soldier to die in military operations in the Iraq War. Her death is ruled to be a suicide by an official inquest.
- November 12: CPT Tammy Duckworth, USA, loses both legs, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.
- SGT Leigh Ann Hester, USA, received the Silver Star for her actions in Iraq during an enemy ambush on their convoy near the town of Salman Pak. She killed at least 3 of the attacking insurgents. Hester was the first female soldier to receive the award for exceptional valor since World War II and the first woman ever to receive the silver star for close combat.
- Elizabeth Cosson becomes the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier in the Australian Army.
- April 30: SPC Lynndie England, USAR, pleads guilty to inflicting sexual, physical and psychological abuse on Iraqi prisoners of war.
- May 5: Janis Karpinski, USA, is demoted from Brigadier General to Colonel, although her demotion is not formally related to the abuse at Abu Gharib prison.
- December: Brig Gen Susan Y. Desjardins, USAF becomes the first woman Commandant of Cadets and Commander of the 34th Training Wing of the United States Air Force Academy.
- December 12: Danielle Levillez becomes the first female general in the history of the Belgian armed forces.
Major Margaret Witt (2007)
- MAJ Tammy Duckworth, USA, became the first female combat veteran to be nominated by a major party to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress.
- Vivien S. Crea becomes the first female Vice Admiral of the United States Coast Guard.
- First public performance of Maj Nicole Malachowski, USAF, the first woman pilot selected to fly as part of the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron (Thunderbirds).
- January 1: Chai Hui-chen becomes Taiwan's first female combat-status general.
- March: Major Margaret Witt is discharged from the United States Air Force on grounds of homosexual conduct. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit in her behalf.
- May 17: Captain Nichola Goddard, (Canadian Forces Land Force Command), becomes the first Canadian female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
- June 16: Pte Michelle Norris, British Army, saves the life of her sergant by climbing out of a vehicle and pulling him from the turret of the Warrior Patrol Vehicle that they were in while under heavy gunfire. She is eventually awarded the Military Cross for her actions, and is the first woman to receive one.
- September 8: SFC Merideth Howard, USA, is killed in action in Afganistan. At age 52, she is the oldest American female soldier to be killed in combat.
- September 23: Aviation Cadet Saira Amin wins the Sword of Honour at The Pakistan Air Force Academy, becoming the first-ever female to win the Honour in any Defence Academy in Pakistan.
- December 6: Maj Megan McClung, USMC, becomes the first female Marine officer to die in Iraq.
- December 15: CAPT Margaret Klein, USN, becomes the first woman to hold the No. 2 post at the United States Naval Academy.
- January 19: The United Nation's first all female peacekeeping force is set to deploy to Liberia. The peacekeeping force is made up of 105 Indian policewomen.
- March: British sailor Faye Turney is captured by Iran along with fourteen other British sailor. While captive, she appears on television apologizing for trespassing in Iranian waters, and also writes a letter stating that she and her fellow sailors "apparently tresspassed" on Iranian waters. It was reported that Iranian officals would release her, but they eventually refused to do so based on "wrong behaviour of those who live in London."
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