The armed forces of many countries, especially NATO member states, have undergone numerous transformations over the past decade. The precarious situation has contributed to these changes: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, financial crises and the resulting restructuring of budgets. Attitudes towards the participation of women in the military and especially their deployment as personnel have changed; some countries even decided to lift restrictions on women’s participation in direct combat tasks. Also in Armenia, which has been embroiled in a conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh since the 1990s, there have been changes in the perception of the role of women in the military. However, in this patriarchal society, it was difficult to change the way women and their role in Armenian society were perceived. The painful experience of the loss of the Second Karabakh War contributed significantly to the revision of previous views. Changes began to be introduced to allow women not only to play a greater role in the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, but also to create solutions that would ensure the voluntary conscription of women into the army. However, this is not an easy process because the stereotypical perception of the role of the Armenian woman, seen only through the prism of a wife and mother, must first be changed. This text aims to analyze these changes and try to find an answer to the question: Is it possible to change the attitude of Armenian society towards women’s military service? Why did they suddenly see the need to encourage women to join the army?
