Famous Women Who Served in the Military

Military service has not always looked the same for women.

Some served in official armed-forces roles. Others worked as pilots, mechanics, nurses, intelligence agents, resistance members, or wartime entertainers near the front lines.

Queen Elizabeth II

Before she became Queen, Princess Elizabeth joined Britain’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II.

She trained as a driver and mechanic, making her the only female member of the British royal family to serve in the armed forces. Her service became an important part of her public story because it connected her directly to the wartime generation she later led as monarch.

Bea Arthur

Long before The Golden Girls, Bea Arthur served in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II.

Born Bernice Frankel, she enlisted in 1943, shortly after the Marines began recruiting women. She served as a typist and later trained in motor transport work. Her later comedy fame made this military chapter surprising to many fans.

Tammy Duckworth

Tammy Duckworth served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Iraq.

In 2004, her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, and she lost both legs and partial use of her right arm. She later continued serving in the Illinois Army National Guard before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Duckworth later became a U.S. senator, carrying her military experience into public service.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman served the Union Army during the Civil War as a scout, spy, nurse, and guide.

She is widely credited as the first woman to lead an armed military operation in U.S. history through her role in the Combahee Ferry Raid, which helped free hundreds of enslaved people.

Her story goes far beyond the Underground Railroad. Tubman was also a wartime leader.

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was not only an international performer. She also worked with the French Resistance during World War II.

She used her fame to move through social and political spaces while helping carry intelligence. France later honored her with major military and resistance decorations, including the Resistance Medal and the Croix de Guerre.

Gal Gadot

Before becoming known worldwide as Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot served in the Israel Defense Forces.

Her service lasted two years, and she has publicly discussed the discipline and physical training connected to that period of her life.

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich did not serve as a regular soldier, but her wartime service was serious and dangerous.

During World War II, she performed for Allied troops through USO tours, including shows close to combat zones in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. Her work was part entertainment, part morale service, and part public stand against Nazi Germany.

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr did not wear a military uniform, but her wartime contribution was tied directly to defense technology.

During World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a “Secret Communication System” using frequency hopping to help guide torpedoes in a way that could resist jamming. Her invention was not adopted by the U.S. Navy during the war, but it later became part of the broader story of modern wireless technology.

Eileen Collins

Eileen Collins served in the U.S. Air Force and became a military pilot before making history at NASA.

She later became the first woman to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission. Her career shows how military aviation opened a path into one of the most demanding public-service fields.

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and deployed to the Middle East.

Her military background became a major part of her political career and public image. Like many modern public figures with military service, her politics are debated separately from the basic fact of her service.

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper served in the U.S. Navy and became one of the most important computer pioneers of the 20th century.

Her work influenced early programming and computer language development. She eventually reached the rank of rear admiral, making her one of the most famous women in both military and technology history.

Jacqueline Cochran

Jacqueline Cochran was a record-setting aviator and key figure in the Women Airforce Service Pilots program during World War II.

While WASP members were not granted full military status during the war, their work was essential to aircraft ferrying, testing, and training support. Cochran’s aviation leadership made her one of the most important women connected to wartime flight.

Nancy Wake

Nancy Wake served with the French Resistance and later worked with Britain’s Special Operations Executive during World War II.

Known for her courage and ability to evade capture, she became one of the most decorated women of the war. Her service belongs in the resistance and intelligence category rather than ordinary military enlistment.

Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan served with Britain’s Special Operations Executive during World War II.

She worked as a wireless operator in occupied France, one of the most dangerous roles in resistance work. Her courage later made her one of the best-known women connected to wartime intelligence service.

Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall worked with Allied intelligence during World War II and became one of the most effective female operatives in occupied Europe.

Despite having a prosthetic leg, she operated in dangerous conditions and helped resistance networks.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

Lyudmila Pavlichenko served as a Soviet sniper during World War II.

She became one of the most famous women soldiers of the war and was credited with a large number of confirmed kills.

Loretta Walsh

Loretta Walsh became the first woman to officially enlist in the U.S. Navy.

She joined during World War I and helped open the door for women’s formal military service in the United States. Her role was administrative, but historically important.

Charity Adams Earley

Charity Adams Earley served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

She commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion deployed overseas during the war. Her leadership became a major chapter in both women’s military history and Black military history.

Mildred H. McAfee

Mildred H. McAfee became the first director of the WAVES, the women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II.

She was also the first woman commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Her service helped normalize women’s official presence in naval work.

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