Friday, October 22, 2004

Necessity is the Mother of Progress, Apparently

Unlike Newt Gingrich, I'm not worried that the monthly "infections" women get should prevent them from serving in combat. However, one would like to think that changes like this would occur with the appropriate degree of thought and training:

The Army is negotiating with civilian leaders about eliminating a women-in-combat ban so it can place mixed-sex support companies within warfighting units, starting with a division going to Iraq in January.
Despite the legal prohibition, Army plans already have included such collocation of women-men units in blueprints for a lighter force of 10 active divisions, according to Defense Department sources.
An Army spokesman yesterday, in response to questions from The Washington Times, said the Army is now in discussions with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's staff to see whether the 10-year-old ban in this one area should be lifted. The ban prohibits the Army from putting women in units that "collocate" with ground combatants.