An outdated Pentagon policy bars women from more than 220,000 US military positions. Yet the Army is gaming the restrictions by attaching women to combat units. The current policy is a legal fiction that not only degrades equality, but combat efficiency. It's high time we rescind it.
Champions of equal rights are celebrating the repeal
of "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). Upon signing the bill into law
last month, President Obama gave a passionate speech about justice, fairness,
and equal rights for all, declaring that eliminating barriers to homosexuals'
service in uniform increases national security. Supporters of repeal testified
that integrating gay soldiers followed the path of ending military
discrimination against African-Americans and women. They rejected the claim
that units are most effective and cohesive if they are all alike, which has
usually meant white male heterosexuals.
But their winning arguments did not signal a final
victory for equal opportunity and diversity in the US
military. That's because American women are still restricted from serving
in more than 220,000 positions. This is not due to any law passed by Congress
but rather a longstanding Department of Defense policy that was last updated 17
years ago.
It's not just infantry positions – women are barred
from serving in artillery, tanks, special forces, combat engineering, and
other "ground combat" specialties. They also cannot serve in support
positions (medical, logistics, administrative, intelligence, etc.) in any
combat unit below the brigade level. And despite the realities of how they are
employed every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, they cannot be
"assigned" to combat support units that routinely
"collocate" with ground combat units.
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Women now make up 14.6 percent of the US military. Since
2001, more than 255,000 women have been deployed to the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, where more than 120 have been killed and almost 700
wounded. Many women have earned combat awards for valor – including two Silver
Stars. Women are killing the enemy, saving lives, and showing great bravery and
valor in combat conditions. They are also crucial for searching local women and
children for weapons at checkpoints and during raids, and engaging with the female
population as part of counterinsurgency strategy.
An outdated, confusing technicality
Yet the Army is gaming the restrictions by assigning
women to permissible positions, but attaching them to combat units to get the
mission done. The current policy is a legal fiction, which not only degrades
combat efficiency, effectiveness, and flexibility, but confuses military
commanders.
Almost all the arguments against homosexuals serving
openly in the military have been used to keep these 220,000 positions closed to
women: Their presence will disrupt cohesion; there will be insurmountable
privacy issues; there will be sexual tensions; they don't (as a class) have
what it takes. Courts usually don't meddle in the business of military affairs,
but last September, US District Court Judge Virginia Phillips decided such
arguments were baseless for restrictions on homosex-uals in the military. The
secretary of Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Congress, and
the president agreed. With this historic change, there are no more
legitimate arguments for keeping qualified women out of any position in the
military. Especially in a time of war, we need to pick the best "man"
for every job, even if she is a woman.
Momentum for a shift
Momentum for this shift has been building.
During Mr. Obama's campaign, his national security
spokesperson stated: "Women are already serving in combat [in Iraq and
Afghanistan] and the current policy should be updated to reflect realities on
the ground. Barack Obama would consult with military commanders to review the
constraints that remain."
Last October, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm.
Mike Mullen declared: "It's very important that we take a look at what
we've learned in these wars and … whether we should evaluate those policies.
Battle is nowhere and it is everywhere right now; everyone is in a combat zone.
We've got to understand what that means and roll it into the future."
The future may come quickly. This month, a special
commission of current and retired military officers established by Congress
recommended that women should be allowed to serve fully in combat. The Pentagon
will review the commission's final report in March, but Obama and Defense
Secretary Robert Gates can start working to bring down the barriers now.
Before signing the repeal of DADT, Obama declared:
"We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a
nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. These are the
ideals that generations have fought for. These are the ideals we uphold
today."
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With the performance of women warriors in Iraq and
Afghanistan as a backdrop and with the repeal of DADT fresh in their minds, Obama
and Secretary Gates must affirm the commission's report and notify Congress
that they will rescind the remaining restrictions on women in uniform.
**Martha McSally is a retired Air Force colonel. She was
the first woman to fly a fighter aircraft in combat and the first to command a
fighter squadron. She is a professor of national security studies at the George
C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany. The views expressed here are her own.