Combat Exclusion Policies: Unequal Protection Under the Law

Abstract

Women have been fighting and dying for the United States since the nation was founded. Yet, women are precluded from serving in certain military specialities, positions, and units based solely because of their gender. This paper explores the history of women in the military, as well as the history of current combat exclusion policies, and it ultimately concludes that the current policies will not withstand judicial scrutiny if they are challenged because they likely violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Finally, the paper advocates the rescission of the current policies and discusses the steps military leaders will need to take to implement a new gender-neutral assignment policy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA519895

Entities

People

  • Jody M. Hehr

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artillery
  • Civil War
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Hospitals
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • Second World War
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.