Armed services panel reduces delay for women in combat

Members of the House Armed Services Committee agreed to an amendment to the 2016 defense policy bill that would modify a 30-day waiting period before military services finally open up combat jobs for women. 

The Defense Department is studying how to open previously closed combat positions for women, and will make final determinations in January. The current 30-day period would come after the services make their announcements of which positions can be open, and which should remain closed. 

The amendment, introduced by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), would have eliminated the 30-day waiting period, since it meant 30 days of consecutive congressional days, which she said could delay women serving in those positions or as long as six months. 

{mosads}After fierce debate by members of the committee, including veterans, the amendment was modified to change the 30-days to “calendar days” versus 30 consecutive congressional days, and adopted. 

Female veterans on the committee, including Republican Rep. Martha McSally (Ariz.), a retired Air Force colonel and the first female to fly in combat, and Democratic Reps. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), rallied behind the amendment. 

Retired Navy SEAL Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mt.), who opposed the amendment, drew a sharp rebuke from Gabbard after saying the “enemy doesn’t recognize men or women in a uniform. The enemy recognizes weakness.” 

“Women have been serving in these ground combat battles for quite some time,” Gabbard said. 

Zinke responded that he did not call women weak and was not referring to women in that statement. 

The committee chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) urged both sides to remember the issue was about the waiting period, not about whether women should serve in combat positions. 

“I’m a little sensitive about this issue, because I want women to get to work,” said Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard pilot who lost both legs in the Iraq War. 

The defense policy bill is expected to be passed by the committee.