Publisher's Synopsis
This unique book reproduces a number of military reports and government documents about the issue of women serving in combat. Contents include: Implementation of the Decision to Open All Ground Combat Units to Women * Women In Combat * Women in Combat: Issues for Congress * Women In Combat: A Culture Issue? * Army Plans for Integrating Women into Combat * Women in Combat Compendium * Chapter I - USAWC Women in Combat Survey Interpretation * Chapter II - The DoD Combat Exclusion Policy: Time for a Change? * Chapter III - The Combat Exclusion Policy in the Modern Security Environment * Chapter IV - Impact of Revising the Army's Female Assignment Policy * Chapter V - Women Leaders In Combat: One Commander's Perspective * Chapter VI - Leading Soldiers on Today's Battlefield: Considerations on Contributions and Challenges of the Integration and Role of Soldiers Who Are Women * Chapter VII - The 95th Military Police Battalion Deployment to Iraq-Operation Iraqi Freedom II * Chapter VIII - How the Army Can Meet the Intent of Policy and Statute On Ground Combat Exclusion for Women. Included are hearings in early 2016 regarding the implementation of the decision to integrate women into combat occupations and the ground combat forces in particular. Testimony by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus stated: The Marine Corps is the most formidable expeditionary fighting force the world has ever known. That legacy is proven through the Corps' storied history, from the halls of Montezuma to the Valleys of Afghanistan, and that reputation is unquestioned in America and around the globe: No better friend, no worse enemy. The strong traditions of the Marines help make that reputation, and among those traditions is a commitment to evolve, to be flexible, - in one of the common instructions to young Marines - to improvise, adapt and overcome. Throughout its history, the Corps has maintained its combat power and its lethality by adapting to changing conditions, evolving training and tactics to meet new challenges and new threats. Today's School of Infantry is not the same as it was just 25 years ago during Desert Storm, and the change is even more dramatic since Vietnam or World War II. In a world where the threats and the battle space are all increasingly complex, failing to re-evaluate everything from personnel policies to weapons programs can be dangerous if not fatal. A response of "that's the way we've always done it," is not, cannot be, and never has been, an acceptable rationale. In the Department of the Navy, we are continually evaluating the way we operate. After Secretary Panetta and Chairman Dempsey set us in 2012 on the path toward opening all billets, including ground combat, to women by this year, the Navy and Marine Corps - along with our sister services - conducted extensive studies on that issue. These studies helped inform the Department's recommendation to Secretary of Defense Carter and his subsequent decision to open all previously closed positions in all services to women. But they were not the only source of information that was gathered in reaching that recommendation. However, the Marine Corps study has drawn special attention, and at least some of what has made it into public discussion is - to put it generously - less than accurate. Among the misperceptions is that the Marines relied on just one study. In fact, their conclusions were, in part, based on a number of studies and reports. I have spent a considerable amount of time closely reviewing all of them, especially the Marines' own study. In addition, I've had numerous discussions with senior Marine leadership, junior officers, and enlisted personnel.
