Saturday, April 21, 2001

By Lisa Burgess, Washington bureau

VIENNA, Va. — Women have made enormous progress in their pursuit of equality in the military, but lingering prejudice and quality-of-life issues still deny servicewomen an equal playing field with their male colleagues, according to the military advisory group on women’s issues.

Members of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), which celebrated its 50th anniversary this week, said that increased deployments, inadequate pay and compensation, child-care shortages, health-care shortfalls, "glass ceiling" promotion problems and a lack of women-to-woman mentoring are some of the most pressing issues facing women in the armed forces today.

Less easily quantified, but a constant theme during the committee’s week-long conference in Northern Virginia is the persistent presence of "hangover attitudes" among some male military members, especially senior officers and noncommissioned officers, according to DACOWITS members.

"Men who refuse to listen to and respect their female subordinates and counterparts not only depress morale, but also set a bad example for younger servicemen," a Navy officer said during one committee session Thursday.

The DACOWITS committee, which includes anywhere from 30 to 40 civilian and military men and women in any given year, was established in 1951 by Defense Secretary George C. Marshall to provide the Pentagon with recommendations regarding the women serving in America’s armed forces.

Over time, the committee’s findings have resulted in tremendous changes to the Pentagon’s policies on women, including the number of occupational specialties women are allowed to choose.

Well into the 1980s, women who joined the military had little choice other than to serve as health-care providers, secretaries or other traditionally female-held occupations.

Today, almost all military occupations are currently open to women: 91 percent of Army occupations, 93 percent of Marine Corps occupations, 96 percent of Navy occupations, all but a few Air Force occupations and 100 percent of Coast Guard occupations.

"Women play an increasingly important role today," Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday during the DACOWITS anniversary celebration at Arlington National Cemetery. "They fly our planes, command our ships and lead our troops."

However, "women in the military have been given positions of responsibility and authority not because they are women, but because of their demonstrated ability to do the job," Shelton said.

In 1973, women made up less than two percent of the active duty force. Today, women account for over 14 percent of U.S. active armed forces.

"The fact is that we simply could not do our mission today without the women who volunteer to serve their country," Shelton said. "We need their talent, we need their numbers and we need their leadership. There is simply no alternative. There is no turning back," Shelton said.

Shelton reminded his audience that two women were among the 21 sailors who died when the USS Cole was attacked last October in Yemen, and that three of the 24 crewmembers of the U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft who were detained by China earlier this month were women.

"Today, women are sharing in the same responsibilities and risks that our men face as we defend America’s interests around the globe," Shelton said.

"Few people could have predicted 50 years ago all the progress that women have achieved in both the civilian and military sectors of our society," Shelton said. "In fact, I see a new spirit of acceptance and camaraderie within the military and in other occupations as well."

Despite Shelton’s optimistic assessment of women’s progress, the DACOWITS committee had no shortage of topics to address during its spring conference meeting here.

The committee’s three primary subcommittees — equality management, quality of life, and forces development and utilization — each met to develop recommendations on topics ranging from women’s health needs during deployment to women’s promotion and retirement issues.

The subcommittees will consolidate their recommendations on Sunday and determine what future actions should be taken.

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