The Pentagon took a major step on Wednesday to recognizing that women already fight in combat. Now comes all the hard work of opening infantry positions and other dangerous military roles to women, a task that is likely to take years.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are finalizing the end of the longstanding prohibition on women in direct combat, as first reported by the Associated Press. A senior Defense official, who would not speak for the record in advance of an official release, said the 'policy change will initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision.'
Reminiscent of the drawn-out effort to remove the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly, the different military services will have a long time to open their most dangerous tasks to women. Initial plans from the services for implementing the repeal are due on May 15. Reportedly, the services have until January 2016 to seek exemptions for positions they believe should remain closed to women. Still, as CNN notes, eliminating 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' might have taken a long time, but when it ultimately ended in mid-2011, it happened all at once,, with all military positions open to out gays and lesbians.
A January 9 memo from Dempsey on the repeal, first reported by Kristina Wong at the Washington Times, comes with caveats. It says the services will 'need time to get it right' and describes a 'full intent to integrate women into occupational fields to the maximum extent possible.'
The U.S. Special Operations Command declined to 'speculate' about the impact the gender integration will or won't have on the military's unconventional forces ahead off an actual announcement of the change. But Col. Tim Nye, a spokesman for the command, said that 'in general terms, the services retain administrative control of special operations personnel and SOCOM generally follows the services' personnel policies.'
Panetta and Dempsey will hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon at the Pentagon, when they're likely to explain in more detail how gender integration for combat specialties will work. But this is a major legacy item for the outgoing secretary of defense. It potentially opens approximately 230,000 jobs to women in the military, and follows on last year's decision to open a limited number of combat positions to them. In October, the Marines opened up their infantry course to women for the first time.
More than 11 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan has eroded the distinction between frontline combat and the relative safety of the rear. Women troops have died and been wounded in combat circumstances, whether through small-arms fire, homemade insurgent bombs or being rocketed on their bases. A woman platoon commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Riannon Blaisdell-Black, told the New York Times in 2011 that the only time gender disparities were an issue 'is when you're out on a three-day patrol, and you need to find a place to pee.'
At least two U.S. congresswomen are Iraq combat veterans. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) lost both legs when her Black Hawk was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in 2004. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hi), who deployed twice, said in a statement, 'I have had the honor of serving with incredibly talented female soldiers who, if given the opportunity, would serve as great assets in our ground combat units.'
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