Michael Quinlan ’14: The Pentagon’s recent decision to allow women to serve in all forms of armed conflict opens thousands of combat positions and high-level military jobs to women. The change in policy, which came during Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s last days, replaces a previous rule, enacted by the Pentagon in 1994, that allowed women to only serve as “units below the brigade level.”
Upwards of 230,000 combat positions, in addition to the approximately 200,000 positions that combat-active women currently hold, will be opened to women within the coming years. 14,500 of those openings, mostly in the Army and Marines, became available to women in February of last year.
Many of the new additions will be in infantry, armored and special operations roles. Such changes will be handled by the Department of Defense and should be finalized by May 2013, and completed by January 2016. However, during the interim, military officials are allowed to create exceptions to the new jobs available to women for the consideration of the Department of Defense.
Described by Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, as “an historic step for equality,” the change in policy has also been warmly received by the American public. According to a recent Gallup poll, 74% of participants supported the Pentagon in its decision.
Livia Wallick ’15, head of Episcopal’s Gender Equality club, expressed her outlook on the new rule, stating, “I understand that there will be physical barriers [in areas such as combat training] … but I think that it’s a step in the right direction. … It’s the start of something good.”
Similarly, Paul Rosenberg, physics teacher and an army veteran, has noted the change in public opinion towards women in combat.
“It’s a lot different from what it used to be,” he commented. “If this came up prior to [the Vietnam War], there’s no question women wouldn’t see combat.”
In a video interview with The New York Times, former Marine officer Anu Bhagwati cited sexual harassment and “simply not [being] treated the same” as reasons for her departure from the military in 2004, after five years of service. She observed the struggles many women faced related to combat duty. Bhagwati has since worked as a Director of the Service Women’s Action Network to end the restrictions which “legalize discrimination,” and sees the removal of the combat ban as a great “first step.”
However, the plan has not received universal support. Sexual harassment remains an especially prevalent issue for the 15% female portion of the US military. The Department of Defense estimates 19,000 incidents of sexual misconduct per year, a number that has continued to increase even with the introduction of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office in 2004. When these problems are combined with issues such as PTSD, argues Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, the US Military risks “testing a hypothesis that may impair the military effectiveness of our ground forces.”
Integration of women into all military facets remains a sensitive topic. High profile cases such as David Petraeus’ scandal, related equality issues such as the recent “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the risk of underreported sexual harassment all remain issues for the US military. Still, Pentagon officials stress the overarching “gender-neutral standards” that they hope to bring to fruition with the implementation of this new policy.
As Bhagwati stressed, “We’re not arguing for any special treatment for women. We’re actually arguing for the same treatment for women.”

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