Fighting for our fighting women
Praise for America’s men and women in uniform echoed through the country in Memorial Day tributes last weekend. But those words might have rung hollow for the women warriors now in the field of action had it not been for a woman who fought for them on another battleground — the backrooms of the House of Representatives.
In what was, even for the House, a moment of outrageous sexism, members were poised to pass a measure restricting the roles women can play in the military. Never mind the fact that night after night on television we see American heroines performing under fire — the House would have inserted language into the Defense Bill to protect “the little ladies” had a brave woman not come to the rescue.
New Mexico Republican Heather Wilson, the only female veteran in Congress, understood that the best protection for women in the military is equality. When Duncan Hunter, the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, moved to restrict women’s jobs, Wilson stood up to him, she told us, in defense of the 2 million women who have served the country, saying simply, “I don’t want to denigrate their service.”
This question of what jobs, if any, women can officially hold in the armed services has perplexed Congress for generations. “Officially” is the operative word here, since women have actually taken up arms and attacked the enemy in every American war since the Revolution. In fact, the only Revolutionary War soldier buried at West Point is a woman, Margaret Corbin, who took over her husband’s artillery position at Fort Washington after he was killed, sustaining three gunshot wounds in the battle.
President Bush repeated the official stance, “no women in combat,” in an interview with The Washington Times in January. But the president quickly added, “We’ve got to make sure we define combat properly: We’ve got women flying choppers and women flying fighters, which I’m perfectly content with.” The rules barring women from combat on the sea or in the air were rescinded in the 1990s. Currently, only ground combat is prohibited to women.
It’s a meaningless prohibition in terms of safety in a war zone where there are no front lines; where bombs kill soldiers at checkpoints, in mess tents and on city streets without first checking their gender; and where women have been decorated for valor under fire. But it’s significant in terms of advancement for women in the Army. Combat jobs often lead to promotions faster than others, and the idea that women are not suited for them implies second-class status.
Despite the rules restricting women, the Army has found ways to insert them into units that provide support to soldiers in combat zones. Hunter planned to stop that practice by passing a law requiring the Army to get Congressional approval before assigning women to new positions. And he would have succeeded, Heather Wilson is convinced, had she not been in Congress.
“I am an Air Force Academy graduate,” she reminded us in an interview. “Some people are surprised to learn that. I don’t wear my ring, don’t knock it on the bar when I order a drink.”
The congresswoman planned her campaign carefully, enlisting the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and calling in the Pentagon for reinforcements. The Secretary of the Army warned that the proposed change would cause confusion in the ranks and could boot more than 20,000 women out of their jobs. And, says Wilson, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was ready to oppose the measure in writing, as he did verbally.
Before Rumsfeld’s big guns were fired, Chairman Hunter backed down. The legislation now calls on the Secretary of Defense to study how the Army is implementing its policy on women in combat, and to report back to Congress on his findings. It was a victory for Heather Wilson and, she believes, for all the women who have volunteered to serve their country.
“You have to stand up and be willing to fight and get the votes,” Wilson told us with some pride. “Unless you do that things don’t change.” Changing Congress is a tall order. The women of the military should be thankful that one of their own was ready to take on the challenge.
(Steve Roberts’ latest book is “My Fathers’ Houses: Memoir of a Family” (William Morrow, 2005). Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].)