Redefining A Woman's Place

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The changes mark a milestone in the gradual integration of women into the ultimate male bastion. In numbers alone, women have already had a radical impact on the armed forces. When the all-volunteer military was introduced in 1973, women accounted for only 1.9% of U.S. forces; today, 220,000 strong, they make up 10%. "We can no longer go to war without the women," says Lieut. General Colin Powell, director of the National Security Council.

Women have excelled in a variety of posts, but the highest rungs of leadership have been difficult to reach. In all the services, the way to the top is through command: of an Army battalion, a ship, an air wing. Partly because of the exclusion from so many designated combat posts, women's military careers tend to top out at the middle ranks. Some 18% of female Army officers are second lieutenants, compared with 11% of male officers. But only 1% of female officers are colonels; 5% of male officers hold that rank. "They're not allowed in the jobs which are critical for competitive promotion," says Korb. The Pentagon's new policy could go a long way toward solving that dilemma.

The Armor task force was created in response to another problem plaguing women in the military: sexual harassment. In the Navy the majority of 1,400 females surveyed last year said they had been victims. Carlucci last week ordered stricter enforcement of sexual harassment codes, development of new sensitivity-training courses, and a system that will allow women to pursue their complaints with other authorities if their local commander fails to respond.

That such measures are necessary underscores the fact that not everyone welcomes the growing role of women in the armed forces. While polls show increasing popular support for women in arms and even for their participation in combat, that last barrier is not likely to fall anytime soon. Congresswoman Beverly Byron, who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Compensation, strongly supports the Pentagon reforms, but she admits, "There is a chauvinistic, male repugnance to women in direct combat that I share." Lorrie Hayward, a Nebraska-born lieutenant stationed in Frankfurt, West Germany, is blunter. Says she: "The American people are simply not ready for women coming home in body bags."