Rule change opens post-graduation paths for female students

Women in the military can now officially serve in combat under a new policy – a move some members of the UCLA community say could help level the playing field and create more equitable opportunities for female personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Prior to the policy change, women in the military were barred from being assigned to any unit below brigade level that performed direct ground combat, according to a report from the Department of Defense.

“The Department’s goal in rescinding the rule is to ensure that the mission is met with the best qualified and most capable people, regardless of gender,” said Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, at a press conference on Thursday.

Ellen DuBois, a UCLA history professor, said the official decision to allow women to serve in combat is symbolically important.

“I think it’s an acknowledgement of the degree to which women have already been folded into the armed services,” Dubois said.

Women currently make up about 15 percent of the military’s active duty personnel, according to a statement from the Department of Defense.

Panetta opened approximately 14,500 combat-related positions to women last February, which allowed female troops to work in combat support jobs in the army and marines as an exception before the policy was modified recently, according to the Defense Department.

The new policy aims to “expand career opportunities for women” by opening up 250,000 jobs to women in the military that were previously available only to men and aiding women in reaching higher ranks in the military, according to the Defense Department.

Evania Baginski, a second-year global studies student, said that as a woman considering a career in the military postgraduation, she is supportive of the new policy’s inclusion of women in combat roles.

“I think this is a continuation of more socially conscientious (military policies) like repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – and that is always encouraging,” she added.

The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy was introduced in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton, and prohibited openly gay personnel from serving in the military, but was repealed in July 2011 under Panetta’s command.

Shawn Phelps, lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army and professor and chair of military science at UCLA, said that although the number of positions available for women has increased in recent years, women have long been a part of combat operations – though not officially.

“Women are already serving in combat. They have been since 2002, when we started the war on terrorism,” Phelps said. “(The new policy) really doesn’t change a lot.”

The policy change follows a lawsuit filed by four military servicewomen and the American Civil Liberties Union against the Pentagon. The lawsuit alleges that the exclusion policy that kept women from formally serving in the front lines discriminates against servicewomen.

Several media outlets have reported that promotions to high positions in the military depend on an individual’s combat experience.

Well before the official announcement of the policy change, women often engaged in combat while serving in other roles such as mechanics, medics and drivers – but their work was not classified as combat because the defense department’s former policy prohibited women from serving in combat roles, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.

But with the new policy, women can officially receive credit for serving in combat positions – a move the American Civil Liberties Union supports.

“For more than a decade, women have been risking and … giving up their lives in combat,” said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Ariela Migdal in a press statement. “It’s long past time for the policy to catch up.”

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