1950s
1950-1953: (Korean War): Women who were in the Reserves are recalled to active duty. More than 500 Army nurses serve in various areas and theaters of the war. Captain Lillian Kinkella Keil, USAF, who had already made 250 evacuation flights (23 of which were transatlantic) during World War II, made 175 evacuation flights during the Korean War. As a result, she becomes one of the most decorated women in American military history.
1950
Ruby Bradley served in the Korean War as Chief Nurse for the 171st Evacuation Hospital. In November 1950, during the Chinese counter-offensive, she refused to leave until she had loaded the sick and wounded onto a plane in Pyongyang while surrounded by 100,000 advancing Chinese soldiers. She was able to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance exploded from an enemy shell. In 1951, she was named Chief Nurse for the Eighth Army, where she supervised over 500 Army nurses throughout Korea. When she left Korea in June 1953, she was given a full-dress honor guard ceremony, the first woman ever to receive a national or international guard salute. Christena Ogle becomes the first Women in the Air Force Airman assigned to the ranks of the United States Air Force Security Service. Edith DeVoe becomes the first African-American Navy nurse to serve outside the continental U.S., at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.
1951
Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) is established to aid in recruitment of women serving in the military for the Korean War. President Truman authorized the Services to involuntarily discharge women due to pregnancy or adoption of minor children. Rule also permitted a voluntary discharge to uniformed women for marriage. Rule did not authorize uniformed women any entitlements due to family ("dependents") status, such as non-military spouses. Arie Taylor becomes the first black person to be a U.S. Women's Air Force classroom instructor. Helen E. Myers of Lancaster, Pa., a 1941 graduate of Temple University, is commissioned as the U.S. Army Dental Corps’ first woman dental officer in 1951.
1952
U.S. Navy women were accepted for commission in the U.S. Medical Service Corps.
1953
Barbara O. Barnwell becomes the first female United States Marine to be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. Mercedes O. Cubria, a WAC, was promoted to major and deployed to Japan, where she continued to work in military intelligence. When the Korean War ended in 1953 Cubria was given a medical discharge, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "meritorious achievement in ground operations against the enemy".
1955
3 January - Irene O. Galloway was sworn in as the fourth director of the Women's Army Corps. Clotilde Dent Bowen becomes the U.S. Army's first black female physician to attain the rank of colonel.
1956
1957
MAJ Emma Baird becomes Assistant Chief, Personnel Branch and was reputed to be the first woman staff officer at the U.S. Military Academy. Mary Louise Rasmuson becomes the director of the Women's Army Corps.
1958
Elizabeth Splaine becomes the first U.S. Coast Guard SPAR to be promoted to warrant officer.
1959
16 December: Anna Der-Vartanian becomes the U.S. Navy's first female master chief petty officer; this made her the first female master chief in the Navy, as well as the first female E-9 in the entire U.S. Armed Services. She received a personal letter from then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower congratulating her on her accomplishment.
1960s
Wilma L. Vaught becomes the first woman to deploy with a Strategic Air Command operational unit.
1960
From 1960 to June 30, 2016, there was a blanket ban on all transgender people, including but not limited to transgender women, from serving and enlisting in the United States military. From June 30, 2016 to April 11, 2019, transgender personnel in the United States military were allowed to serve in their preferred gender upon completing transition. From January 1, 2018 to April 11, 2019, transgender individuals could enlist in the United States military under the condition of being stable for 18 months in their preferred or biological gender. Master Gunnery Sergeant Geraldine M. Moran becomes the first female Marine to be promoted to E-9. Grace Peterson becomes the first female chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.
1961
The first female U.S. Marine is promoted to Sergeant Major (Bertha Peters Billeb). Lieutenant Charlene I. Suneson becomes the first line WAVES officer to be ordered to shipboard duty.