Liberating the Pentagon
Time to kick the civilian feminists out.

By Kathryn Jean Lopez
February 13, 2002, 11:20 a.m.

n 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.