Center for Military Readiness News Release
Date: Friday, March 1, 2002 Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, praised the Bush Administration for not renewing the charter of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), which expired at midnight yesterday, February 28. (See "Women’s Panel to Get New Orders," Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, March 1, 2002) In a statement she said, "I am encouraged because the decision not to automatically extend the charter indicates that the Bush Administration is giving this matter serious thought. My hope is that they are looking at this as a national defense issue, not just a women’s issue. "With so many uniformed women serving well in positions of high rank, there is no need for a group of amateur civilian women to tell the Defense Department what to do. The only significant items on the DACOWITS agenda involve close combat positions that are unsuitable for women, such as submarines, multiple launch field artillery, and special operations helicopter pilot positions like those depicted in the graphic film about Somalia, Black Hawk Down. The feminist agenda of DACOWITS has gone as far as it should go. "Much depends on what approach will be taken in the future. If there is to be a new committee, it must be structured differently from the DACOWITS. The single-minded committee, which is largely made up of civilian women, is not capable of conducting a review of problems caused by social engineering in the military, since many are associated with recommendations DACOWITS has made in the past. Donnelly added, "If the Bush Administration takes the same serious approach that they have in other matters of national defense, both men and women in the military will benefit a great deal." The Center for Military Readiness is an independent public policy organization that specializes in military personnel issues. For more information on the DACOWITS, go to the "Issues" section of the CMR website, www.cmrlink.org.
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