The Pentagon leadership's final decision on lifting all gender restrictions has been influenced by a pending lawsuit from several former female service members who claim the combat exclusion rules violate their constitutional rights. The Pentagon does not need direct approval from Capitol Hill to move forward on Carter's decision, but strong opposition from Congress could pose problems in implementing related policies. We expect the department to send over its implementation plans as quickly as possible to ensure our Committees have all the information necessary to conduct proper and rigorous oversight," the statement said. "The Senate and House Armed Services committees intend to carefully and thoroughly review all relevant documentation related to today's decision, including the 1,000-page Marine Integrated Task Force report.
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Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, issued a joint statement vowing to take a close look at the issue during Congress's 30-day review period. The leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees, Sen. Thursday's announcement was greeted with some skepticism on Capitol Hill. The Corps released only parts of the study's final report, which highlighted unit cohesion problems and increased rates of injuries for women.Ĭritics said the Corps' study was flawed because it failed to take into account that many of the male Marines, unlike the females, had prior training in the combat arms, and also because it focused on average results rather than individual results.
The Corps' nine-month study compared all-male units to mixed-gender units and included battlefield simulations examining the impacts of integrating women into combat roles. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus voiced strong public support for lifting all gender restrictions, including those for Navy SEALs, yet Dunford, commandant of the Marine Corps at the time, disagreed. The contentious issue revealed a rare public disagreement between the Marine Corps leadership and the Department of the Navy, which technically oversees the Marines. Those gender restrictions affected roughly 4,000 positions. The Navy integrated its fighter pilot career fields in the 1990s and began allowing women to serve on submarines several years ago.įor the Air Force, the change will affect six occupational specialties that had been closed to women: special tactics officer and combat rescue officer, and the enlisted fields of special operations weather, combat control, pararescue and tactical air control party. In November, the Ranger School's first fully integrated class got underway at Fort Benning, Georgia.įor the Navy, the impact will be felt mainly in to the SEAL community, which was historically limited to men. So far this year, three female soldiers completed the prestigious Army Ranger School and earned the Ranger tab. The Army, in contrast, has shown strong support for opening all military occupational specialties to women.
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