Women in combat arms de-emphasized

VFW Magazine, May, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

A Pentagon panel that studies the role of women in the military has changed its mission. Improving readiness rather than promoting alleged "social engineering" is now the priority.

During the Clinton Administration, the 51-year-old Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) concentrated on expanding combat roles for women. The Pentagon said in March that the panel now will focus on retention and recruitment of highly qualified women. Improving military readiness is now the objective, Pentagon officials said.

All 22 Clinton-appointed DACOWITS members were dismissed and the remaining 12 members' terms were allowed to expire without reappointment. The Pentagon also jettisoned a support staff of some 30 active-duty troops.

The new panel will have less than 30 members. Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), a former Air Force officer and former DACOWITS member said, "I fear that the committee will be a shadow of what it once was. This is unfair to our servicewomen."

But Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.), a House Armed Services Committee member, is pleased with the panel's new direction, saying it should "maximize the contributions women make to our military without pursuing an overt feminist agenda, which DACOWITS had come to do."