Military Women in the Department of Defense, Volume 6
Abstract
The purpose of this publication is to provide current data on the status of women in all components of the Armed Forces. As shown on the adjacent charts, National Guard and Reserve women now comprise over 37 percent of the total women in the military. Military women are performing their duty requirements with the same professional competence displayed by military men. Although this has been widely recognized for many years, only within the past decade have women been permanently integrated within the active/reserve personnel inventories. The catalysts which motivated integration and expansion of the role of women in the military exist in law. The passage of Public Law 90- 130, which repealed the ceiling on women, the creation of the all-volunteer forces, and the enactment of the Defense Personnel Management Act (DOPMA), which repealed long standing provisions of law containing unwarranted distinctions with respect to Defense policy on the utilization of women in military service. The current laws which restrict the assignment of women in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, and their reserve components, were enacted in 1948 when the women's auxiliary components were made part of the permanent military structure. Under these statutes, women in the Navy, Marine Corps, Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve may not be assigned to duty on ships or in aircraft that are engaged in combat missions, nor may they be assigned to other than temporary duty on vessels for the Navy except hospital ships, transports, and vessels of similar classification not expected to be assigned to combat missions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA201190
Entities
Organizations
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy