latest news update,Committee says women should be allowed in combat units;WASHINGTON — Women should be allowed to fight in combat units, an advisory commission recommended yesterday. Although thousands of women have been involved in the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have done so while serving in combat support roles — as medics, logistics officers, and so on — because policy prohibits them from being assigned to any unit smaller than a brigade whose primary mission is direct combat on the ground. A special panel met yesterday to complete the final draft of a report that recommends the policy be eliminated “to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.’’
If approved by the Defense Department,Committee says women should be allowed in combat units
the change would be the latest sizeable social shift for the military, including allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly and allowing women to serve on submarines.
The latest proposal comes from the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, a panel of retired and current military officers established by Congress two years ago. The commission is expected to send its report to Congress and President Obama in the spring. The Army is doing an internal study of the question as well.
The new report said keeping women out of combat posts prohibits them from serving in roughly 10 percent of Marine Corps and Army occupational specialties and thus is a barrier to promotions.
Since promotion to many senior positions in the military is dependent on combat experience, changing the policy is a matter of fairness, said Anu Bhagwati, former Marine captain and executive director of the rights group Service Women’s Action Network, said.Committee says women should be allowed in combat units
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