In March 2011, the Military Leadership Diversity Committee issued a report to President Obama and the 112th Congress recommending the elimination of the Combat Exclusion Policy.
Retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles, commission chair, said the recommendation is one way the congressionally mandated body suggests the military can get more qualified women into its more-senior leadership ranks. “We know that [the exclusion] hinders women from promotion,” Lyles said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. “We want to take away all the hindrances and cultural biases” in promotions.
Written in 1994 combat exclusion policy, precludes women from being “assigned” to ground combat units, but women have for years served in ground combat situations by serving in units deemed “attached” to ground units, Lyles said. That distinction keeps them from being recognized for their ground combat experience — recognition that would enhance their chances for promotion, he said.
In mid-November Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times reported that top defense officials are wrestling to find a collective position on whether to allow women in direct ground combat. This seems to be a never-ending, perpetually debated and continually unresolved issue.
Read the article at “Now that the gay thing is resolved, can we let soldiers be openly female in combat” on Foreign Policy and The Best Defense, Tom Rick’s Daily Take on National Security
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