Some in Army, Marines Would Bar Women From Combat Roles

WASHINGTON —  A Clinton Administration initiative to expand combat assignments for women in uniform is meeting stiff resistance from the Army and Marine Corps, elements of which are backing a proposal that in some cases would exclude women from jobs in which they now serve.

On Tuesday, an internal working group of military officers completed a draft policy document that would bar assignment of women to units that “co-locate” with ground combat units, such as a company of infantrymen or tanks, a copy obtained by the Washington Post said.

Moreover, the document said, “other units, positions or billets will be closed to women when the probability of their engaging in direct combat on the ground is equal to or greater than that of closed units that engage in direct combat on the ground.”

A senior military officer who has read the proposal described it as a potentially catastrophic setback for women seeking wider career opportunities in the military. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, U.S. servicewomen served throughout the combat theater, working as truck drivers, medics, helicopter pilots and in other support roles that blurred the line between combat and non-combat jobs.

“If you adopted this, you wouldn’t have women in Somalia, Bosnia, the Persian Gulf, anywhere,” said the officer, an advocate of expanded combat opportunities for women who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It’s a retrogression.”

Pentagon officials emphasized that the proposal is still in draft form and likely will be revised before being forwarded to Defense Secretary Les Aspin.