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One aspect of the 1989 Invasion of Panama was that several women in both the UH-60 and MP communities wound up seeing combat (as in actually pulling the trigger) during the takedown of the PDF. As a result, there were calls to get rid of the combat exclusion laws right then, but DOD refused to get on board, saying that Panama hadn't been enough of a test. But WI DOD had decided (with Congressional support) to allow some women to be allowed into AF, Navy, and Army combat aviation (the Marines had no female pilots, and wouldn't until 1994) in early '90? There would've been a number of female pilots in squadrons that deployed to the Gulf before DESERT STORM kicked off, and it's possible that there might have been a female MiG killer in 1991. It's also possible that there would've been more than two female POWs, also. It was the performance of women in ODS, especially the two POWs, that led to repeal of restrictions on women serving in air and naval combat in 1993, and more jobs on the ground in the Army and Marines opening up in 1994.
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