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recent years, criticism of the Pentagon from conservative circles
has been aimed at the readiness of the armed forces. That all changed
on September 11. Theoretical arguments about readiness became more
real than ever before in recent memory.
Now more than ever, in other words, the Pentagon needs to be rid
of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).
Since George Marshall created it in 1951, the 33-or-so-member committee
has long been a stronghold of civilian feminists. DACOWITS advises
the Pentagon on "women's issues," which oftentimes are
in direct opposition to America's national-security issues. Some
way to run a military.
Members of DACOWITS had to regret September 10th, come the 11th.
The day before the Pentagon itself was attacked by terrorists bent
on the destruction of the United States, DACOWITS had gathered on
Capitol Hill for a conference
on breastfeeding in the military.
Previous issues for the committee included addressing maternity-uniform
inadequacies. In fact, DACOWITS's commitment to advancing women
into every nook and cranny of the armed forces, whatever the consequences,
in 2000 went as far as calling on the Navy to immediately assign
women to submarines — despite the privacy issues, medical risks,
and redesign costs. Sheila McNeill, a former DACOWITS vice chair,
said in response that "the issues of privacy, career progression,
unit cohesiveness and, ultimately, cost should have far outweighed
the effort toward gender equality."
"DACOWITS constantly promotes policies that would hurt the
war effort by taking political correctness to extremes," Elaine
Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness and former
DACOWITS member, said last week at a press conference calling on
the White House to not renew its charter. "America can no longer
afford politically correct policies that drive up costs, complicate
missions and endanger lives."
For a Pentagon that, now more than ever, needs to make better use
of its money, cutting DACOWITS is an obvious step, and will benefit
both the men and women of the military — and our national interests.
The DACOWITS budget for 2001 was $240,000, with an additional travel
budget of $149,000. The policy and morale damage, though, is the
real cost.
And the charter should go free of concerns that to abolish the
committee would be to dismiss women or be anti-woman, as the president
is likely to be labeled by some. For, in truth, to rid the Pentagon
of DACOWITS would be the highest compliment to women in the military.
It says: You have arrived. You are valuable members of the military,
not some quota filled. And you — and America — don't need
civilian feminists to dictate what your needs are.
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