A Real No-Brainer

Posted by Greg in Blog, Greg Jacob      1 comment

Jun
22

Tweet

I opened the paper this morning and was greeted by yet another story of how women are serving, fighting and dying in combat.

“Servicewomen have died in all of America’s wars, but usually they were support personnel such as nurses and clerks. In Afghanistan, most women who have died were killed in combat situations, as Specialist Snyder was, despite the military’s official prohibition on women in combat jobs.

The same has been true in Iraq, where 111 female soldiers have died, according to data compiled by icasualties.org, an independent organization that tracks military fatalities. In both wars, 60 percent of those deaths are classified by the military as due to hostile acts.

Wars with no clear front lines have put women in harm’s way more than ever before, blurring the boundaries between combat jobs that are outlawed for women, and support jobs that are often as dangerous and in some cases even more so.”

For those of us who follow the military and military affairs, or have served in the military, hearing stories like this is nothing new. We are all aware of the many sacrifices made by women in the military to including making the ultimate sacrifice of giving one’s life for her country.  We know that women are fighting, bleeding and dying to the left and to the right of their male counterparts.  We know that women have been decorated for their many acts of heroism. We know that by not acknowledging the contributions of servicewomen, the military is denying women the recognition, benefits and promotion opportunities they are entitled to.

The next reasonable question is what to do about it.

Congress missed a huge opportunity to right this wrong by not allowing Rep Loretta Sanchez to introduce an amendment to the Defense Authorization act based on her bill H.R. 1928. This bill would force the Department of Defense to repeal the archaic and obsolete Combat Exclusion Policy that prevents women from being assigned to combat units. This policy has not deterred commanders who regularly employ women in combat roles by playing semantics and “attaching” rather than “assigning” women to combat units.

Unfazed by this setback, Rep Sanchez  has introduced her bill as a standalone piece of legislation that with enough support will leave committee and be introduced on the floor for a vote. Meanwhile, this policy can be easily eliminated tomorrow by the new Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta without waiting for the legislative process.

Even for a former Jarhead grunt like me, this is a no-brainer. Maintaining this discriminatory policy is not only unfair to servicewomen, but it forces commanders to sacrifice their integrity to accomplish their mission.  Both of these are not in keeping with the high standards and ideals of our Armed Forces and those who serve.  It’s time for the Department of Defense to step up and do the right thing.

For Soldiers, Death Sees No Gender Lines – Rod Norland, New York Times

H.R. 1928, To amend title10, United States Code, to repeal the ground combat exclusion policy for female members of the Armed Forces.

Women in Combat Fact Sheet

Major Moments in Women’s Military Service