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Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Washington DC
NAVY TO BEGIN ASSIGNING WOMEN TO SHIPS
The Department of the Navy announced today that it will begin assigning women to duty aboard ships. The action is in accord with Navy-sponsored changes to legislation governing the assignment of women contained in the recently enacted Fiscal Year 1979 Defense Authorization Bill.
The action is also in accordance with the applicable judicial decision.
Navy women will be assigned permanently to selected non-combatant ships, and may be assigned on temporary duty (180 days or less) aboard any ship that is not expected to become involved in a combat role while women are aboard.
During Fiscal Year 1979, 55 officers and 375 enlisted women will be assigned to 21 ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, with the first officers reporting aboard their respective ships on November 1, 1978. The first enlisted women will report in December.
Of the ships listed below, only the first four have both officer and enlisted women ordered to them at this time. The ships, homeports, and the numbers of officer and enlisted women to be assigned are as follows:
SHIP TYPE HOME PORT OFF ENL USS VULCAN (AR 5)Repair ShipNorfolk, VA362USS L Y SPEARS (AS 36) Submarine TenderNorfolk,
VA2102USS SAMUEL GOMPERS (AD 36)Destroyer TenderSan Diego,
CA4102 USS NORTON SOUND (AVM 1)Missile Test Ship Port Hueneme,
CA470 USS DIXON (AS 37)Submarine TenderSan Diego, CA3 USS PUGET SOUND
(AD 38) Destroyer TenderNorfolk, VA3 USS HARKNESS
(TAGS 32) Surveying ShipNorfolk, VA1 USS PIEDMONT (AD-17)
Destroyer TenderNorfolk, VA3 USS SHENANDOAH
(AD 26)Destroyer Tender Norfolk, VA 2 USS AJAX (AR 6) Repair Ship San Diego, CA2
USS HECTOR (AR 7) Repair Ship San Francisco, CA3
USS PROTEUS (AS 19) Submarine Tender Guam, M.I.3
USS YOSEMITE (AD 19) Destroyer Tender Mayport, FL2
USS JASON (AR 8) Repair Ship San Diego, CA 2
USS SPERRY (AS 12) Submarine Tender San Diego, CA2
USS HOLLAND (AS 32) Submarine Tender Holy Loch, Scotland3
USS CANOPUS (AS 34) Submarine TenderRota, Spain2
USS HUNLEY (AS 31) Submarine TenderCharleston, SC2
USS SIMON LAKE
(AS 33) Submarine Tender Charleston, SC3
USS PRAIRIE (AD 15) Destroyer Tender San Diego, CA 2
The twenty-first ship in the program will be identified later.
END
Note: USS Vulcan (AR-5) was the first US Navy ship on which women were deployed (with the exception of nurses on hospital ships).
Women were administrators, air traffic controllers, logisticians, engineer equipment mechanics, ammunition technicians, ordnance specialists, communicators, radio operators, drivers, law enforcement specialists and guards. Many women truck drivers hauled supplies and equipment into Kuwait.
Some brought enemy prisoners of war back to holding facilities. Many flew helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft. Still others served on hospital, supply, oiler and ammunition ships. Others served as public affairs officers and chaplains. Several women commanded brigade, battalion, company, and platoon size units in the combat service support areas. They endured the same harsh conditions as their male counterparts. The deployment of women was highly successful. Women performed admirably and without substantial friction or special considerations.
Deployment of Women to Combat Zones
Although women did not serve in units whose mission involved direct combat with the enemy, some women were subjected to combat. Five Army women were killed in action and 21 wounded in action. Two women were taken as Prisoners of War (POW). All casualties were the result of indirect causes, i.e., Scud attack, helicopter crash, or mines. One woman Marine driving a truck struck a mine in Kuwait, receiving no injuries. Four Marine women qualified for, and received, the Combat Action Ribbon having been engaged by, and returned fire against, bypassed Iraqi troops.
Because media attention was afforded to the relatively few cases in which women faced combat conditions, the public perception of the role of women in the Gulf War has tended to be skewed. Army and Marine women served in combat support and service support units ashore.
Navy women served on hospital, supply, oiler, and ammunition ships afloat. Ashore, they served in construction battalions, fleet hospitals, and air reconnaissance squadrons, as well as in many support billets. No Navy women saw combat, either directly or indirectly. USAF women served in support billets as well as in tanker, transport, and medical evacuation aircraft. All USAF C-130 squadrons in theater had women maintenance officers.
No USAF women saw direct combat.
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1992 and 1993 repealed the statutory limitations on the assignment of women to aircraft flying combat missions. The Act also established a Presidential Commission on Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces.
The Commission is intended to assess laws and policies restricting the assignment of women service members. The law requires the President to transmit the Commission's report to Congress by l5 December l992. DOD fully supports the commission. Several other related DOD study efforts also are examining the experience of women service members in the Persian Gulf.
The Army is conducting studies in two categories: "soldier human factors research" during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and "family factors research" focusing on post Operation Desert Storm family issues. The Navy is studying the issue of women serving in a combat environment. Researchers have surveyed units in the Persian Gulf and are analyzing their data.
DOD is working with the General Accounting Office on a more extensive study to analyze the role of military women in the Persian Gulf. This study will examine issues such as the impact of women on deployment and field operations; women's role in the deployed units; unit operations issues, such as unit cohesion/bonding; and ground deployment issues, such as hygiene.
Service historians also have been asked to document contributions made by women in the Persian Gulf.
Data will document the overall number of women who deployed, the skills of those women, the number of single parents and married military couples, and data comparisons with males on the numbers and types of separations from the military.
These analyses and assessments will serve as the basis for further evaluation of current policies concerning women in the military. Emerging results of analyses conducted on non-deployable personnel suggest the non-deployability percentages for female personnel were somewhat higher than the percentage for male personnel.
Pregnancies accounted for the largest difference in non-deployable percentages. Other differences are not as easily identified and require additional analysis. While non-deployability did not affect the overall conduct of the operation, it is nevertheless an issue that will require further study for future deployment criteria for women.
Several observations have emerged.
There were instances of misunderstanding concerning the application of combat restrictions. DOD policies are not designed to shield women from all hostilities, but are designed to limit their exposure to a level which is less than that in direct combat. Direct combat means closing with the enemy by fire, maneuver, or shock effect to destroy or capture, or while repelling assault by fire, close combat or counterattack.
The Risk Rule is used to determine if a non-direct combat position should be closed to women. Noncombat units can be closed to women on grounds of risk of exposure to direct combat, hostile fire, or capture, if the type, degree, and duration of risk is equal to or greater than that experienced by associated combat units (of similar land, sea, or air type) in the same theater of operation.
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Finally, the substantial social and cultural differences involving the role of women in Saudi Arabia have received some attention. While there are marked differences, they did not affect the military's role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The mission was not one of changing cultural values and beliefs.
In fact, the Saudi government ensured US military members, both female and male, were not restricted in the performance of their military duties, even if such duties might counter normal Saudi culture.
This was best demonstrated by Saudi acceptance of American women driving military vehicles. However, outside of military duties, Service members were obliged to respect the host country's cultural distinctions of the host country. This courtesy was extended within Saudi Arabia, just as it is within all other countries where US military members serve.
Although US forces had a military, not a civilian mission, this does not mean their presence did riot have an effect on Saudi culture. US military men and women deployed to Saudi Arabia were selected based on mission need, with no distinction made for gender, other than application of restrictions contained in US combat exclusion laws and policies. As previously mentioned, this meant US women performed a wide range of critical missions. This fact alone clearly sets a visible example of US principles.
Observations Accomplishments
1. Women were fully integrated into their assigned units.
2. Women performed vital roles, under stress, and performed well.
3. Current laws and policies were followed.
Issues
1. The media and public interest was centered on female casualties and POW.
2. ln some respects, deployment criteria for women differ among Services. In a few cases, these differences and different interpretations by local commands caused concerns.
