WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the past decade women in the U.S. military
have served, fought and died on the battlefields in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
On Thursday, Pentagon rules will catch up a bit with
reality, recommending to Congress that women be allowed to serve in
more jobs closer to the front lines.
According to defense
officials, the new rules are expected to continue the long-held
prohibition that prevents women from serving as infantry, armor and
special operations forces. But they will formally allow women to serve
in other jobs at the battalion level, which until now had been
considered too close to combat.
In reality, however, the
necessity of war has already propelled women to the front lines - often
as medics, military police or intelligence officers. So, while they
couldn't be assigned as an infantryman in a battalion or company going
out on patrol, they could fly the helicopter supporting the unit, or
move in to provide medical aid if troops were injured.
The
officials said the new rules will change that, and formally allow women
to be assigned to a battalion and serve in jobs such as medics,
intelligence, police or communications officers. The changes would have
the greatest effect on the Army and Marine Corps, which ban women from
more jobs than the Navy and Air Force do - largely because of the
infantry positions.
Defense officials spoke about the report on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been publicly released.
There
long has been opposition to putting women in combat, questioning
whether they have the necessary strength and stamina, or whether their
presence might hurt unit cohesion. There also have been suggestions that
the American public would not tolerate large numbers of women coming
home from war in body bags.
But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
where battlefield lines are scattered and blurred and insurgents can be
around every corner, have made it almost impossible to keep women clear
of combat. Thousands have served in the two wars, and more than 150
have been killed.
The Pentagon report, which initially was due
out last spring, comes nearly a year after an independent panel called
for the military to lift its ban on women in combat. The Military
Leadership Diversity Commission said the Pentagon should phase in
additional career fields and units that women could be assigned to as
long as they are qualified.
A 1994 combat exclusion policy bans
women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade
level. A brigade is roughly 3,500 troops, and is made up of battalions,
which can be about 800 soldiers.
So while a woman serving as a
communications or intelligence officer can be formally assigned to a
brigade, she can't be assigned to the smaller battalion. The military
has gotten around those rules by "attaching" women in those jobs to
battalions, which meant they could do the work, but not get the credit
for being in combat arms.
And since service in combat gives
troops an advantage for promotions and job opportunities, it has been
more difficult for women to move to the higher ranks.
While the
new rules won't open up the Navy SEALS or the Army Delta Force to women,
some defense officials have said the military may eventually be open to
that also. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told North Carolina
ROTC students in 2010 that at some point there would be careful steps in
that direction.
Already, however, women are serving with special
operations forces in support jobs such as intelligence analysts, legal
specialists, builders and administration assistants.
And in a new
program gaining popularity in Afghanistan, women are serving on
so-called cultural support teams that go out with commando units. The
women on the teams are used to do things that would be awkward or
impossible for their male teammates, such as talk to or even frisk
burqa-clad women.
