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| FILE - This Jan. 19, 2013 file photo shows Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking during a news conference in London. Panetta has removed US military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat,
opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially
elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service,
defense officials said Wednesday.
The changes,
set to be announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, will
not happen overnight. The services must now develop plans for allowing
women to seek the combat positions, a senior military official said.
Some jobs may open as soon as this year, while assessments for others,
such as special operations forces, including Navy SEALS and the Army's
Delta Force, may take longer. The services will have until January 2016
to make a case to that some positions should remain closed to women.
The
groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a
1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground
combat units.
Officials briefed The Associated
Press on the changes on condition of anonymity so they could speak
ahead of the official announcement.
There long
has been opposition to putting women in combat, based on questions of
whether they have the necessary strength and stamina for certain jobs,
or whether their presence might hurt unit cohesion.
But
as news of Panetta's expected order got out, members of Congress,
including the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Carl
Levin, D-Mich., announced their support.
"It reflects the reality of 21st century military operations," Levin said.
Sen.
Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, who will be the top Republican on the Armed
Services panel, said, however, that he does not believe this will be a
broad opening of combat roles for women because there are practical
barriers that have to be overcome in order to protect the safety and
privacy of all members of the military.
Panetta's
move comes in his final weeks as Pentagon chief and just days after
President Barack Obama's inaugural speech in which he spoke passionately
about equal rights for all. The new order expands the department's
action of nearly a year ago to open about 14,500 combat positions to
women, nearly all of them in the Army. Panetta's decision could open
more than 230,000 jobs, many in Army and Marine infantry units, to
women.
In addition to questions of strength
and performance, there also have been suggestions that the American
public would not tolerate large numbers of women being killed in war.
Under
the 1994 Pentagon policy, women were prohibited from being assigned to
ground combat units below the brigade level. A brigade is roughly 3,500
troops split into several battalions of about 800 soldiers each.
Historically, brigades were based farther from the front lines and they
often included top command and support staff.
The
necessities of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, propelled women
into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that
were sometimes attached - but not formally assigned - to battalions. So
while a woman couldn't be assigned as an infantryman in a battalion
going out on patrol, she could fly the helicopter supporting the unit,
or move in to provide medical aid if troops were injured.
And
these conflicts, where battlefield lines are blurred and insurgents can
lurk around every corner, have made it almost impossible to keep women
clear of combat.
Still, as recent surveys and
experiences have shown, it will not be an easy transition. When the
Marine Corps sought women to go through its tough infantry course last
year, two volunteered and both failed to complete the course. And there
may not be a wide clamoring from women for the more intense, dangerous
and difficult jobs - including some infantry and commando positions.
In the Navy, however, women have begun moving into the submarine force, with several officers already beginning to serve.
Jon
Soltz, who served two Army tours in Iraq and is the chairman of the
veterans group VoteVets.org, said it may be difficult for the military
services to carve out exceptions to the new rule. And while he
acknowledged that not all women are interested in pursuing some of the
gritty combat jobs, "some of them are, and when you're looking for the
best of the best you cast a wide net. There are women who can meet these
standards, and they have a right to compete."
Two
lawsuits were filed last year challenging the Pentagon's ban on women
serving in combat, adding pressure on officials to overturn the policy.
And the military services have been studying the issue and surveying
their forces to determine how it may affect performance and morale.
The
Joint Chiefs have been meeting regularly on the matter and they
unanimously agreed to send the recommendation to Panetta earlier this
month.
A senior military official familiar
with the discussions said the chiefs concluded this was an opportunity
to maximize women's service in the military. The official said the
chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps laid out three main
principles to guide them as they move through the process:
- That they were obligated to maintain America's effective fighting force.
- That they would set up a process that would give all service members, men and women alike, the best chance to succeed.
-That they would preserve military readiness.
Part
of the process, the official said, would allow time to get female
service members in leadership and officer positions in some of the more
difficult job classifications in order to help pave the way for female
enlisted troops.
"Not every woman makes a good
soldier, but not every man makes a good soldier. So women will
compete," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. "We're not asking that
standards be lowered. We're saying that if they can be effective and
they can be a good soldier or a good Marine in that particular
operation, then give them a shot."
Women
comprise about 14 percent of the 1.4 million active military personnel.
More than 280,000 women have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or to jobs
in neighboring nations in support of the wars. Of the more than 6,600
who have been killed, 152 have been women.
The
senior military official said the military chiefs must report back to
Panetta with their initial implementation plans by May 15.
If
the draft were ever reinstated, changing the rules would be a difficult
proposition. The Supreme Court has ruled that because the Selective
Service Act is aimed at creating a list of men who could be drafted for
combat, American women aren't required to register upon turning 18 as
all males are.
If combat jobs open to women, Congress would have to decide what to do about that law.
