Women-in-combat ban 'far reaching'

An amendment passed by a House committee that codifies the Pentagon's ban on women in combat for all branches of military is more far-reaching and signficant than news report have indicated, according to an expert on military-personnel issues.

The House Armed Services Committee approved the amendment yesterday 61-1 as part of a bill authorizing $441.6 billion in defense programs for the next fiscal year.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, says the Army has been trying to circumvent Department of Defense rules by "collocating" women in forward units that assist the new, modular land combat battalions.

"Congress said, enough of that -- not in land units and not in collocated batallions," Donnelly told WorldNetDaily. "Those units will remain all male."

Significantly, she pointed out, Democratic lawmakers failed in an attempt to include language from the 1994 regulations established by then-Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, which banned women in combat but placed a priority on opening up more career opportunities for women.

"But in the future," Donnelly said, "any proposed changes must be proposed to Congress in advance and made only if there are good military reasons, not just to promote somebody's career."

Donnelly said the presidential advisory commission on which she served in 1992 came to that same conclusion, but President Clinton, who was elected the day the panel voted on the issue, didn't follow that advice.

Recently, she claims, the Army has put itself in a bind on the issue, "trying to manipulate Congress, giving out fact sheets that seemed to change from day-to-day, redefining the regulations."

The Army had changed the collocation rule, designating 24 of 225 positions in forward support units for women, Donnelly said. By pulling out the women before any battle began, the Army insisted it was in compliance.

Donnelly summed up the House committee's action: "What Congress said to the Army is, 'This is a regulation we want to codify. If you can make a good case for women in combat, OK, make the case, but don't do it without authorization of Congress. The American people don't want it. They set the rules."

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