This past week, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the Pentagon will drop its ban on women serving in combat. With this historic announcement, coming just a year and a half after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Obama administration has once again sent a clear message that the United States is committed to fielding a military that reflects the fundamental American values of fairness and equal opportunity.
And just days into his second term, President Obama has reinforced his legacy; he will be remembered for transforming our armed forces more profoundly than any president since Harry Truman, who desegregated the U.S. military and provided a permanent place in the military for women.
By repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and opening all combat positions to women, the Obama administration has eliminated two of the most egregious examples of modern government-sanctioned discrimination. But these decisions were not based in political correctness or moral probity—dropping these unnecessary and discriminatory restrictions is in our national interest. With the overturning of these bans, the American military will no longer lose talented service members due to their gender or sexual orientation, and our armed forces will be stronger due to their diversity.
Yet these reforms did not come easily, nor are they without political risk, as President Clinton discovered when he tried to end the ban on gays in the military. The U.S. military is highly resistant to change, and to achieve these reforms, the Obama administration had to expend considerable political capital and assemble a wide alliance of committed experts and advocates to overcome significant resistance from some active and retired military officers as well as social conservatives in the Congress. Still, these changes will stand the test of history, and by more fully opening the force to minority groups, President Obama has put a commitment to equality, inclusive government, and military readiness at the heart of his legacy.
The Defense Department’s 1994 combat exclusion policy prohibits women from being assigned to ground combat units, a provision intended to keep women off the front lines of battle. Female service members are, however, routinely “attached” to combat units in a support role—on the Female Engagement Teams that accompany patrols in Afghanistan, as medics, mechanics, and interpreters.
But in the modern day this divide between “combat” and “support” roles has proved to be a distinction without a difference. In this era of irregular warfare, there are no front lines. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have claimed the lives of more than 100 American women and left another 800 wounded, have demonstrated that combat troops and supporting personnel are both at risk for attack or contact with the enemy. American women are already serving in combat and have done so admirably over the past decade.
The Obama administration’s decision to lift the ban, following a unanimous recommendation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, means that the U.S. military will no longer be able to discriminate against service members on the basis of their gender. The physical standards for combat roles will not change, and America’s fighting forces will remain the finest in the world. But any service member, male or female, who meets these requirements will now be eligible to serve.
Opening combat roles to women will strengthen U.S. national security. Just as racial integration and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” improved military readiness by leveling the playing field and removing barriers to service, allowing women to serve in combat roles will give our military a broader talent base to draw upon.
Even more importantly, opening combat positions — which are often viewed as more prestigious and career enhancing — to women will pave the way for more female service members to earn leadership positions within the force. The Pentagon’s own study groups have called the combat exclusion policy a barrier to promotion for women to the highest ranks of military leadership, borne out by the fact that only two women have ever risen to the rank of four-star general. We have capable women ready to assume the highest leadership positions, and it is past time to put aside the barriers that have kept them out.
Removing this “brass ceiling” for women will also help draw attention to women’s issues in the military, including inexcusably high rates of sexual assault. The Pentagon estimates that in 2010 there were 19,000 incidents of sexual assault within the ranks (the Pentagon uses the term sexual assault to refer to a number of types of wrongful sexual contact). That number comes to 52 incidents per day. And according to Army estimates, 95 percent of sex crime victims are women. While it is encouraging to see Pentagon officials like Secretary Panetta speak out about this issue, enacting policies that will open senior leadership positions to women should help to ensure that this grave problem receives the attention it deserves.
The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the end of the ban on women in combat are impressive achievements that demonstrate the Obama administration’s willingness to expend political capital to build a country and military more in line with American values. But there is still work to be done. Implementing the end of the combat exclusion policy will undoubtedly present a number of hurdles including questions about the status of Selective Service registration for women, as well as how quickly women will be assigned to front line units and special forces.
Further, Pentagon policy continues to deny gay troops and their families access to some of the services designed to help them weather the stresses of repeated deployments and military life, even on top of the restrictions of the Defense of Marriage Act. Despite these remaining challenges, President Obama, Secretary Panetta, and the Joint Chiefs should be applauded for their commitment to ensuring that every American has an equal right to serve their country.
Lawrence J. Korb is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Alex Rothman and Max Hoffman are research assistants at the Center.