D
A
C
O
W
I
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S
Secretary of Defense
Federal Advisory Committee
1951 to present: A 70 year review
A Historical Review of the Infl uence
of the Defense Advisory Committee
on Women in the Services (DACOWITS)
Cover photos
Top right
Retired Navy Master Chief Petty Ocer Anna Der-Vartanian places rose petals into the
reecting pool at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial’s annual Memorial
Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, May 26, 2008. In
1959, Der-Vartanian became the Navy’s rst female master chief petty ocer, the Navy’s
highest enlisted grade, and the rst woman in the Armed Forces to be promoted to the rank
of E-9, the highest enlisted rank in the Military Services.
Middle right
General Janet Wolfenbarger, the Air Force’s rst female four-star general, is the highest
ranking military woman ever to serve on DACOWITS and the longest serving consecutive
DACOWITS Chair.
Bottom right
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a prisoner of war and surgeon during the Civil War. She is the
only woman ever to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Top left
President Truman signing the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which
authorized women to serve as permanent, regular members of the U.S. military.
Bottom left
This photo was used to create the 1997 Women in Military Service stamps in response to
DACOWITS’ 1974 recommendation.
Center
Private Cathay Williams, a former slave, was the only woman to serve in the U.S. Army as a
Bualo Soldier during the Civil War, posing as a man under the pseudonym William Cathay.
A Historical Review of the Inuence
of the Defense Advisory Committee
on Women in the Services (DACOWITS)
From 1951 to Present: A 70-Year Review
December 2020
Authors
Rachel Gaddes
Sidra Montgomery
Zoe Jacobson
Shannon Grin
Jordan Stangle
Ayanna Williams
Jessica Myers
Rob Bowling II
Submitted to
Defense Advisory Committee on Women
in the Services (DACOWITS)
4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite 04J25-01
Alexandria, VA 22350-9000
Project Officer
COL Elaine Freeman
Submitted by
Insight Policy Research, Inc.
1901 North Moore Street
Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22209
Project Director
Rachel Gaddes
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2. History of Women in the U.S. Military .............................................................................................................2
Women’s Devotion to Military Service Began Before They Were Granted Ocial
Permission to Serve ........................................................................................................................................................................2
Expansion of Women’s Service in Nursing and Administrative Roles ...............................................3
World War II and Increased Opportunities for Women in the U.S. Military .....................................4
The All-Volunteer Force and Women’s Admittance to Military Service Academies..............5
Expansion of Combat Roles for Women.......................................................................................................................6
Women in the Military Today ...................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 3. History of DACOWITS, 1951 to Present ..........................................................................................................8
Committee Size and Membership ................................................................. ..................................................................... 9
Committee Organizational Structure ............................................................................................................................ 10
Areas of Focus Over the Years ................................................................ .............................................................................. 11
Installation Visits .............................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Guidance for Committee Members ................................................................................................................................. 14
DACOWITS Support of Other DoD Activities ......................................................................................................... 15
Looking Ahead: The Future of DACOWITS .............................................................................................................16
Chapter 4. Analysis of DACOWITS Recommendations, 1951 to Present .................................................. 17
Trends in DACOWITS Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 17
Recommendation Analysis Methods ............................................................................................................................ 17
Common Themes Addressed in Recommendations ......................................................................................18
Common Types of Recommendations ......................................................................................................................20
Common Purposes of Recommendations .............................................................................................................20
Common Target Entities for Recommendations ................................................................................................ 21
DACOWITS Recommendations Across the Decades .................................................................................. 22
History of DACOWITS Areas of Concern as Reected in Its Recommendations ................ 22
Career Progression ...................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Family Support ................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Education and/or Training ..................................................................................................................................................... 36
Women’s Health and Well-Being ..................................................................................................................................... 39
Pregnancy ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Marketing and Recruitment ..................................................................................................................................................40
Additional Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................................... 46
References ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
As the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) prepares to cel-
ebrate seven decades of service to the Department of Defense (DoD) next year, we are proud to
present this retrospective on the inuence of this important Committee during the past 70 years.
As the 50th and longest tenured Chair of DACOWITS, it is my honor to introduce this study. I
served in the U.S. Air Force for 35 years, culminating my career in 2015 as the rst female four-
star general in my branch of Service. I was the beneciary throughout my career of the changes
driven by DACOWITS, starting with my appointment into the rst class of women to attend the
U.S. Air Force Academy in 1976, a change advocated by DACOWITS.
e work of this Committee has proven to be of utmost value to DoD. As one of the few Feder-
al Advisory Committees that conducts annual installation visits to meet with Service members
across all branches, we serve as the eyes and ears of the Department to ferret out issues and
propose recommendations to address them. e Committee has proered more than 1,000 rec-
ommendations during the past 70 years, 98 percent of which have been either fully or partially
implemented by DoD.
Ms. Helen Hayes, the famous actress, and—more pertinent to this retrospective—a member of the
inaugural Committee, said in 1951: “All of us must work at patriotism, not just believe in it. For
only by our young women oering their service to our country as working patriots in the Armed
Forces ... can our defense be adequate.” is quote is on the DACOWITS coin that is presented to
individuals during our installation visits as a token of appreciation for outstanding support. Ms.
Hayes’ sentiment from 1951 remains apropos today, almost seven decades later.
Aer serving in uniform for more than three decades, followed shortly thereaer by chairing DA-
COWITS for the past 4 years, my sincerest hope is that there will be a time when DACOWITS is
no longer needed. As heartfelt as that hope is, I am absolutely convinced the need for DACOWITS
remains as valid today as when this Committee was rst formed. I am extraordinarily proud to
be a part of the important work of DACOWITS. We conduct one of our public quarterly business
meetings every March during Women’s History Month. Annually at that meeting we pause to re-
ect on the substantial progress made since DACOWITS was established in 1951. en we turn to
the Committee’s current study topics with the profound realization our work is not yet done.
Janet C. Wolfenbarger
General (Retired), U.S. Air Force
DACOWITS Chair
1
Chapter 1. Introduction
I
n preparation for the DACOWITS’
upcoming 70th anniversary in
2021, the Committee conducted
an analysis of its eorts and impact
during its history. As an anniversary
synopsis, this chapter does not
reect every issue DACOWITS has
studied during its tenure. DACOWITS’
recent work in 2019 and 2020
is reected here on important
topics such as domestic abuse,
conscious and unconscious gender
bias, and marketing strategies, but
implementation of recommendations
by the Department of Defense and
Military Services remains ongoing. The
purpose of this chapter is to present
an overview of DACOWITS’ impact
through a detailed review of the
more than 1,000 recommendations
made by the Committee. These
recommendations have addressed
dozens of issues and challenges
facing women in the U.S. military,
some of which have been resolved over time and others that persist today. To provide
context for this analysis, the chapter also includes a brief overview of women’s service and
a review of the history of the Committee.
Chapter 2 presents a history of women’s service in the U.S. military. Chapter 3 provides
an overview of the history of DACOWITS from 1951 to present day. Chapter 4 describes
the research team’s methodology for analysis, and presents the results of the analysis of
DACOWITS’ recommendations over time. Chapter 5 presents the conclusion.
Women in the U.S Navy. Photo from the DACOWITS archives
2
Chapter 2. History of Women in the
U.S. Military
W
omen’s service has been integral to the success of the Military Services of the
United States. Hundreds of years before women were allowed to serve, they aided
the ght by ensuring troops were fed and clothed, and some joined the ranks
disguised as men. The U.S. military’s reliance on women as nurses and the wartime need for
additional support opened the door for women’s permanent place in the Military Services.
Despite restrictions on their service and occupational roles over the years, women have
continued to succeed and break barriers in the U.S. military. Table 2.1 presents a summary of
the number of women who have served and died in service from the Civil War through the
conicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Table 2.1. Number of Women Who Served and Died in Service by Conflict
War/Conict Period Dates
Number of Women
Who Served
Female Casualties
Revolutionary War 1775–1783 Unknown
a
Unknown
a
Civil War 1861–1865 6,000
b, c
Unknown
c
Spanish-American War 1898–1902 1,500
a
22
a
World War I April 1917–November 1918 35,000
c
400
c
World War II September 1940–July 1947 400,000
a
400
a
Korean War June 1950–January 1955 50,000
a
2
a
Vietnam War August 1964–May 1975 265,000
d
8
a
Persian Gulf War 1990–1991 41,000
e
15
a
Operation Enduring Freedom
and Operation Iraqi Freedom
2001–2014 700,000
a
161
a
Notes:
The number of women who served in each conict and the casualty count were difcult to determine, especially prior to
World War I. The number of women who served consists of those who served at home and abroad during the conict time
period. The information presented here reects conicts with different lengths, scopes, and personnel levels.
a
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2017
1
b
This is an estimation of the number of nurses who served in the Civil War. Historians have also estimated approximately
400 women served in disguise as men.
c
U.S. Army, n.d.
2
d
Of this number, 7,500 women were deployed abroad.
e
Bellafaire, 2019
3
Women’s Devotion to Military Service Began Before They Were
Granted Official Permission to Serve
During the American Revolution (1775 to 1783), women
provided support to the battleeld by serving as nurses,
cooks, laundresses, seamstresses, and water bearers. These
women, known as “camp followers,” took care of essential
domestic responsibilities for American troops who were
at war. Some women served as saboteurs and spies who
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
3
aided American troops by garnering important information, relaying messages, or carrying
contraband.
4, 5, 6
Although women had no ocial role in the U.S. military, their service was
vital to the sustainment and success of American troops. Decades later in the 1830s, the
Lighthouse Service, which would later become the Coast Guard, assigned women as
lighthouse keepers for the rst time.
7
During the Civil War (1861 to 1865), most women who served were nurses who provided
medical care to both Union and Confederate troops; it is estimated 6,000 women provided
nursing support.
8
In 1862, women served on Red Rover, the Navy’s rst hospital ship,
providing medical care to Union soldiers.
9
Women also served as cooks, laundresses, and
clerks. Several hundred women disguised themselves as men to serve on the battleeld.
These women went to great lengths to join the ght and conceal their identity by cutting
their hair; adopting new, masculine names; binding their breasts; and padding their trouser
waists.
10
The Civil War produced the rst and only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. Dr.
Mary Walker served as a surgeon, providing life-saving medical care to troops. Her Medal of
Honor, rst awarded in 1865
i
,
1
described how she “devoted herself with much patriotic zeal
to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the eld and hospitals, to the detriment of her
own health.”
11
Near the end of the 19th century, approximately 1,500 civilian women were
contracted as nurses to serve in domestic Army hospitals during the Spanish-American
War.
12
Expansion of Women’s Service in Nursing and Administrative
Roles
Women’s continued success serving as
nurses, in particular during the Spanish-
American War, led to the establishment
of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901 and
the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908. The rst
20 nurses in the Navy, known as the
“Sacred Twenty,” were credited with
breaking barriers for women in that
Military Service.
13, 14
The scope and size of
women’s roles in the U.S. military greatly
expanded during World War I. More
than 35,000 women served during this
time, and nearly 400 women were killed
in action. While most female Service
members served as nurses, they also
worked as administrators, secretaries, telephone operators, and architects.
15
In 1917, the Navy
opened enlistment for women as yeomen to provide clerical support and ll other shore-
i
Dr. Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson in November 1865. However, her medal was
rescinded in 1917, along with several hundred others, because she was a civilian who did not have commissioned service.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter restored her medal posthumously.
The “Sacred Twenty”: The Navy’s rst nurses, October 1908
4
related shortages. The rst enlisted woman was 21-year-old Loretta Perfectus Walsh, who
was sworn in March 21, 1917. She worked as a Navy recruiter, sold bonds, and helped nurse
sick inuenza patients during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
16
Female yeomen worked in
Washington, D.C., primarily performing clerical and other oce work but sometimes serving
as mechanics, truck drivers, camouage designers, cryptographers, telephone operators,
and translators.
17
In 1918, the then-Secretary of the Navy allowed women to enlist in the
Marine Corps for the rst time. Opha May Johnson, the rst woman to join the Marine Corps,
enlisted August 13, 1918.
18
World War II and Increased Opportunities for Women in the
U.S. Military
World War II saw yet another expansion of women’s roles, both in the Military Services and
industrial workplaces on the home front. The need for women’s service was reected in
the broadening of ocial military roles for women beyond nursing and clerical work, which
included the establishment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women’s Army
Corps), the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer
Emergency Service, the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, and the Coast Guard Women’s
Reserve during the early 1940s.
19
Women were serving in the U.S. military as pilots,
mechanics, and drivers, and also worked in communications, intelligence, and supply.
Civilian American women also supported the war eort through their roles in industrial
factories, captured by the quintessential image of “Rosie the Riveter.”
20, 21
At the end of World
War II, without the need for wartime levels of stang, the size of the military contracted
along with the number and scope of women’s roles; at the end of World War II, only women
with critical skills were being recruited for military service.
22
Throughout the conict, more
than 400,000 women supported the war eort at home and abroad.
23
Three years later in 1948, President Harry Truman drastically changed the U.S. military by
signing the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, granting women permanent status
in both the regular and Reserve forces.
24, 25
Under this Act, women could compose no
more than 2 percent of the total force, and female ocers were not to exceed 10 percent
of women serving. Service secretaries could discharge female Service members without
cause, and women’s service was restricted; women were not allowed on aircraft or ships
engaged in combat.
26
Less than 1 month later, President Truman signed Executive Order
9981, which ended racial segregation in the U.S. military, allowing women of color equal
access to serve.
27, 28
By the start of the Korean War, approximately 22,000 women were serving in the U.S.
military, 30 percent of whom were in the medical or healthcare eld.
29
While few women
deployed outside of the continental United States during the conict, a total of 120,000
women served during the Korean War.
30
In 1951, during the Korean War, DACOWITS was
established to advise on the recruitment of women into the U.S. military.
31
A notable rst
at the end of the 1950s was the promotion of Anna Der-Vartanian to master chief petty
ocer; she became the rst women in the Military Services promoted to the rank of E-9.
32
Despite these progressive steps toward opening military service for women after World War
5
II, President Truman signed Executive Order 10240 in 1951, which allowed DoD to discharge
women who were pregnant, gave birth during service, or who already had children. This
policy requiring the involuntary separation of women who were pregnant or had children
persisted until 1975.
33
The All-Volunteer Force and Women’s Admittance to Military
Service Academies
During the course of the Vietnam War, approximately
7,000 servicewomen served in Southeast Asia; 8 died
in the line of duty, including 1 woman who was killed
by enemy re.
34
Modications to the Women’s Armed
Services Integration Act in 1967 lifted the restriction
on women composing more than 2 percent of military
personnel, which allowed women to reach more senior
ocer ranks for the rst time.
35
Brigadier General Anna
Mae Hays, who began her service in 1942 as an Army
nurse, became the rst woman general ocer in the
Military Services in 1970.
36
In 1973, the U.S. military ended
conscription, becoming an All-Volunteer Force. This
signicant change to the structure of military stang
necessitated a greater need for the recruitment of and
reliance on women because there were not enough
qualied male volunteers to meet the demand for military service.
37
The 1970s also
opened the door for women to access additional training and professional development
opportunities, the Reserve Ocers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and the Military Service
Academies (MSAs). In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed a law allowing women to enter
the MSAs,
38
the rst classes to include women graduated in 1980. Shortly thereafter women
gained recognition as top graduates at each MSA. These women included the rst female
top graduate at the Naval Academy in 1984,
39
at the Coast Guard Academy in 1985,
40
and at
the Air Force Academy in 1986,
41
and the rst female brigade commander and rst female
captain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1989.
42
Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, women began
promoting to leadership positions, and for the rst time held
command-level roles in noncombat elds that included
medical professionals, chaplains, pilots, boom operators, air
crew members, embassy guards, and ocers in charge of
a vessel. During the 1980s and 1990s, women continued
to gain access to new career elds involved with combat to
some degree, which included positions surrounding combat
missions and serving on combat ships. The Persian Gulf War
(1990–1991) had the largest wartime deployment of women
in the history of the U.S. military up until that point, with more
than 41,000 women serving in Kuwait.
43
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
This 1997 stamp was issued at the
dedication of the Women in Military
Service for America Memorial at
Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia.
6
Expansion of Combat Roles for Women
In 1993, then-Secretary of Defense Les Aspen lifted
restrictions to allow women to y combat aircraft
for the rst time.
44
The following year, women
were permitted to serve on most Navy combatant
ships, providing greater opportunities for women’s
leadership and promotion.
45
Despite these legal
changes bringing greater combat opportunities
for women, in 1994, DoD restricted women’s
engagement with ground combat service below
the brigade level.
46
Throughout the 1990s, women
continued to ll mission-critical roles in military
engagements that included Operation Desert Storm, during which female ghter pilots ew
combat aircraft on combat missions for the rst time.
47
U.S. involvement in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began in 2001, and
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), which began in 2003, changed the way women interacted
with direct combat because of the erasure of the traditional battleeld and the wide range
of roles women served. Women accounted for greater than 10 percent of the more than
2.7 million Service members who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014.
48, 49
Women were not allowed to serve in direct action combat units but did serve in supporting
units.
50
Because of the nontraditional battleelds of Iraq
and Afghanistan, support units were often in close
proximity to active engagements, which resulted
in higher than expected fatalities among female
Service members. During these operations a
greater relative percentage of women than men
were wounded and later died: 35.9 percent of
women (19) versus 17.0 percent of men (793) in
OIF, and 14.5 percent of women (103) versus 12.0
percent of men (4,226) in OEF.
51
Because of the
nature of the ghting in Iraq and Afghanistan
and women’s contributions during this time,
DoD reassessed the denition of direct ground
combat.
55
In 2010, the Navy announced it would
begin allowing women to serve on nuclear
submarines. Female ocers were assigned to
submarines starting in 2011, and enlisted women
began serving on submarines in 2015.
56
The 2010s saw historic expansions in women’s
opportunities to formally serve in combat. In 2013,
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
Women Were Prisoners of War
(POWs) Before Being Authorized
to Serve in Combat
¡ World War II: Sixty-seven Army
nurses were held as POWs for
2½ years after being captured by
the Japanese in the Philippines. A
second group of 11 Navy nurses were
captured in the Philippines and held
for 3 years. Five Navy nurses were
captured by the Japanese in Guam
and held for 5 months.
¡ Gulf War: Two female Service
members were taken prisoner during
Operation Desert Shield and Desert
Storm.
¡ Iraq War: Three female Service
members became POWs during the
rst days of the War in Iraq supporting
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sources: Women in Military Service for
American Memorial Foundation, n.d.
52
Naval
History and Heritage Command, 2017
53
Army.mil Features, n.d.
54
7
following a unanimous recommendation by the Joint Chiefs of Sta, then-Secretary of
Defense Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women participating in the ground Services.
57
As
a result of this policy change, military occupations could remain closed to women only
by exception and only if approved by the Secretary of Defense.
58
That same year, the rst
Marine Lioness team (the precursor to female engagement teams) formed and deployed
to Iraq. These female teams were focused on developing “trust-based and enduring
relationships” with the Iraqi women they encountered on their patrols.
59, 60
These teams
later deployed to Afghanistan and allowed servicewomen to work with Afghan women
and gather critical information in support of the mission. In 2015, then-Secretary of Defense
Ashton Carter announced women would be permitted to apply for all combat units and
positions without exception starting January 1, 2016.
61
This decision mandated each Military
Service develop a plan to ensure women were fully integrated into combat roles deliberately
and methodically.
62
Women in the Military Today
As of 2020, women have served in some of
the most senior roles in the Military Services—
as four-star generals, Vice Chief of Naval
Operations, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air
Force, Chief of the Naval Reserve, Commander
of a Combatant Command, Acting Commanding
General of the United States Army Forces
Command, among others. As of 2019, women
represented 17 percent of the U.S. military,
63
and
as of 2015, approximately 9 percent of the U.S.
veteran population.
64
While substantial progress
has been made toward gender integration, there
is still more to be done. Congress and DoD
continue to make headway to promote and realize full gender integration within the Military
Services, which now include the newly created U.S. Space Force. With the introduction of
this new branch, the U.S. military has a rare opportunity to create a gender-inclusive and
integrated Service at its inception.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, Air Mobility
Command commander, speaks with Col. Lee Merkle,
349th Air Mobility Wing commander, during a mission
brieng at 349th Air Mobility Wing Headquarters,
Travis Air Force Base, California, Sept. 1, 2020. Van
Ovost took time to visit Air Force Reserve Command’s
largest wing during her rst visit to Travis as AMC
commander.
8
Chapter 3. History of DACOWITS,
1951 to Present
DACOWITS was established in 1951 by then-
Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall. The
Committee is authorized under the provisions
of Public Law 92–463, the Federal Advisory
Committee Act,
66
which requires all Federal
Advisory Committees to maintain and renew
charters on a biannual basis, to include
information such as the committee’s objectives,
supporting agency, estimated operating costs,
and more.
67
Throughout its history, the Committee has been composed of appointed
civilians who are tasked with providing advice and recommendations about women’s
service to the Secretary of Defense.
68, ii 2
The Committee’s original purpose was
to increase the recruitment of women in
the wake of the 1948 Women’s Armed
Services Integration Act, which allowed
women’s service in the regular active
peacetime forces. At the Committee’s
rst meeting in September 1951, rapid
recruitment of women was the main
focus. The Committee identied a
lofty goal—recruiting 80,000 women
into the Military Services within 10
months—a greater number than was
achieved in World War II. A need for additional nurses was also discussed.
69v
During its nearly 70-year history, DACOWITS’ mission has evolved. Today, the Committee
provides advice and recommendations to the SecDef through the Under Secretary of
Defense for Personnel and USD(P&R) on matters associated with the recruitment, retention,
employment, integration, well-being, and treatment of women in the Military Services. Many
other aspects of DACOWITS, such as its objectives and membership requirements, have
also evolved since its inception in 1951. These changes are discussed in the sections that
follow, including Committee size and membership, organizational structure, Committee
guidance, areas of focus, installation visits, and support of other DoD activities. One
aspect that has remained consistent throughout DACOWITS’ 70-year history is the need
ii
The information in this chapter is drawn from the internal DACOWITS document “DACOWITS History and
Accomplishments, 1951–2011” unless otherwise specied.
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
“American women can well be the margin
between victory and defeat if only their utilization
is planned intelligently in connection with
manpower.”
—Statement from Col Mary A. Hallaren at the rst
DACOWITS convening. Col Hallaren was the former
director of the Women’s Army Corps and the rst
woman to ocially join the Army.
Source: New York Times, 1951
65
9
recognized by DoD for a Federal Advisory Committee dedicated to providing robust
recommendations on pertinent issues involving servicewomen.
Committee Size and Membership
The composition of DACOWITS—the number of
members and their term limits—has uctuated
over time. The size of the Committee is dictated
by its charter. In its rst year, DACOWITS was
composed of 50 civilian members. Over the
years, the maximum permitted number of
members has ranged from 40 (2000–2002) to
15 (2008–2010). Throughout the Committee’s
history, members have been permitted to
serve 1- to 4-year terms. In 1978, the Committee
welcomed its rst male members.
Currently, the Committee may consist of no more than 20 members, who are drawn from
a range of professional backgrounds and are selected for their experience with military
service or women’s workforce issues. The Committee includes male and female members
with and without military experience. For those with prior military service experience, the
members represent both ocers and enlisted personnel and all Military Service branches.
The current members include prominent civilian women and men from academic, industry,
public service, and other professions.
The Committee has also been led by an esteemed list of chairs (see Table 3.1).
Table 3.1. DACOWITS Chairs, 1951 to Present
Term Chair
1951 Mrs. Mary Pillsbury Lord
1952–1953 Ms. Lena Ebeling
1954 Mrs. Eve Rawlinson Lee
1955 Mrs. Evelyn Crowther
1956–1957 Ms. Margaret Divver
1958 Mrs. Murray Pearce Hurley
1959 Ms. Janet P. Tourtellotte
1960 Mrs. Margaret Drexel Biddle
1961 Mrs. Lucia Myers
1962 Mrs. Nona Quarles
1963 Ms. Margaret J. Gilkey
1964 Mrs. Betty M. Hayenga
1965 Mrs. Elinor Guggenheimer
1966 Mrs. Agnes O’Brien Smith
1967 Dr. Minnie C. Miles
DACOWITS’ 2019 installation visit to Davis-Monthan
Air Base. Photo from the DACOWITS archives
10
Term Chair
1968 Dr. Geraldine P. Woods
1969 Dr. Hester Turner
1970 Dr. Majorie S. Dunlap
1971 Mrs. Helen K. Leslie
1972 Mrs. Estelle M. Stacy
1973 Mrs. Fran A. Harris
1974 Mrs. Wilma C. Rogalin
1975 Mrs. Nita D. Veneman
1976 Mrs. Judith Nixon Turnbull
1977–1978 Mrs. Piilani C. Desha
1979–1980 Mrs. Sally K. Richardson
1981 Dr. Gloria D. Scott
1982 Mrs. Maria Elena Torralva
1983 Dr. Mary Evelyn Blagg Huey
1984 Mrs. Anne L. Schulze
1985 Ms. Constance B. Newman
1986–1988 Dr. Jacquelyn K. Davis
1989 Dr. Connie S. Lee
1990 Ms. Meredith A. Neizer
1991 Ms. Becky Costantino
1992 Mrs. Jean Appleby Jackson
1993 Ms. Ellen P. Murdoch
1994 Mrs. Wilma Powell
1995 Ms. Sue Ann Tempero
1996 Mrs. Holly K. Hemphill
1997 Dr. Judith Youngman
1998 Ms. Elizabeth T. Bilby
1999 Ms. Mary Wamsley
2000–2001 Ms. Vickie L. McCall
2002–2005 LtGen (Retired) Carol A. Mutter, U.S. Marine Corps
2006–2009 Mrs. Mary Nelson
2010–2011 LTG (Retired) Claudia J. Kennedy, U.S. Army
2012–2014 Mrs. Holly K. Hemphill
2014–2016 LtGen (Retired) Frances Wilson, U.S. Marine Corps
2016–2021 Gen (Retired) Janet C. Wolfenbarger, U.S. Air Force
Committee Organizational Structure
Historically, DACOWITS has been organized into subgroups (sometimes referred to as
task forces, working groups, or subcommittees) to divide responsibilities among members
and ensure adequate attention is paid to the Committee’s various topics of interest.
While subgroups focus on particular topics or areas, the entire Committee votes on all
recommendations delivered to the Secretary of Defense. At its establishment in 1951,
11
DACOWITS was composed of ve working
groups: training and education, housing
and welfare, utilization and career planning,
health and nutrition, and recruiting and public
information. In the late 1970s and early 1980s,
the Committee formed unique task forces
to address emerging issues, such as a legal
and legislative task force in 1979 to focus on
issues pending before Congress (e.g., whether
to require women to register for the Selective
Service).
70
In 1982, the Committee formed one
task force to focus on the MSAs and another to
focus on ROTC. The Committee also created task forces centered around internal issues
such as public relations (in 1980) and new member orientation (in 1982). From 2010 to
2015, the Committee was organized into two subcommittees: wellness and assignments.
Since 2016, the Committee has been structured into three subcommittees: recruitment and
retention, employment and integration, and well-being and treatment. Under the current
structure, each subcommittee has a lead and a subset of members who concentrate their
eorts on topics assigned to the subcommittee.
Areas of Focus Over the Years
Upon its establishment in 1951, DACOWITS’ primary goal was to advise the Secretary of
Defense on strategies to improve the recruitment of women in the U.S. military during the
Korean War. However, the Committee’s mission changed just 2 years after establishment
to focus on promoting military service as an acceptable career path for women. DACOWITS
has consistently adapted over time to ensure the Committee is aligned to address relevant
and timely topic areas. Since 2002, DoD’s Oce of the Secretary of Defense has provided
annual guidance to the Committee on topic areas to investigate during a given year.
The number of topics DACOWITS
has been directed to review on an
annual basis has varied over time
as well. For example, in 2003, DoD
directed the Committee to investigate
a variety of topics, which included
retention of female ocers, support
during deployment, and healthcare—
particularly obstetrics and gynecology
(OB/GYN) care.
71
However, in 2006,
DoD directed DACOWITS to focus
its eorts on one topic, the “representation and advancement of female ocers among
lawyers, clergy and doctors in all branches of the Services.”
72
In 2020, the Committee
studied a variety of issues, which include: dual-military co-location policies, marketing
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
12
strategies, retention and exit surveys, women in
aviation, women in space, gender implementation
plans, the Army Combat Fitness Test, the eect of
grooming standards on women’s health, primary
caregiver leave, and caregiver sabbaticals. In
addition to annual topic areas of focus, DACOWITS
has also established themes in certain years
to guide its eorts, such as “Recall to Duty-
1971” and “Salute to Women in the Services”
in 1971—the Committee’s 20th anniversary
year—and “Changing Roles of Women in the
Armed Forces” in 1977. The recommendations
DACOWITS makes each year are directly related to the topics it has studied. Finally, some
topics that originally fell under DACOWITS’ purview have been taken over by new Federal
Advisory Committees—for example, the DoD Military Family Readiness Council, which was
established in 2008, and the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution,
and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, which was established in 2016.
73
An overview of the breadth of topics DACOWITS recommendations have addressed are
presented in Chapter 4.
Installation Visits
A major tenet of DACOWITS’ work throughout its history has been directly engaging
Service members during in-person visits to U.S. military installations. From 1951 to 2020,
DACOWITS made approximately 750 installation visits to obtain rsthand information from
both male and female Service members on topics of interest to the Committee (see Figures
3.1, 3.2, and 3.3). During these visits, the Committee interacted with hundreds of Service
members each year. The type of information gathered during these visits has evolved
over time. Over the years, DACOWITS has moved from informal reporting of member
observations to formal data collection through structured focus groups and rigorous
qualitative data analysis. Some notable installation visit milestones follow:
¡ 1978: DACOWITS made its rst formal Coast Guard visits.
¡ 1986: DACOWITS made its rst visits overseas to Germany and the United Kingdom
to engage with deployed Service members.
¡ 1996 and 2000: The DACOWITS Executive Committee and sta made visits
to Jordan to fulll an invitation from Lieutenant Colonel (then Major) Her Royal
Highness Princess Aisha Bint Al Hussein to meet with personnel of the Directorate
of Women’s Aairs, Jordan Armed Forces.
¡ 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009: DACOWITS completed virtual site visits to Iraq and
Afghanistan via video teleconferences.
DACOWITS’ 2019 Installation visit to Naval
Submarine Base Kitsap. Photo from the DACOWITS
archives
13
Currently, DACOWITS conducts approximately 10 installation visits per year, which include
rigorous data collection through focus groups and mini-surveys, meetings with senior
leaders and commanders, informal gatherings with Service members, and installation tours
that allow members to observe the spaces where servicewomen work and live.
Figure 3.1 Summary of DACOWITS Installation Visits, 1951 to 2020
Figure 3.2. Number of DACOWITS Installation Visits by State, 1951 to 2020
Notes:
CT = Connecticut; DE = Delaware; DC = District of Columbia; MA = Massachusetts; MD = Maryland; NH = New
Hampshire; NJ = New Jersey; RI = Rhode Island; VT = Vermont
14
Figure 3.3. Countries Visited by DACOWITS, 1951 to 2020
Guidance for Committee Members
DACOWITS has regularly prioritized the
development of internal resources and
guidelines to support its members and
promote consistency among their eorts.
In 1979, DACOWITS approved revised
operating guidelines that resulted in
the implementation of a new member
orientation program and increased
information-gathering responsibilities for
Committee members, which included a
minimum of two self-coordinated military
installation visits per year and expanded
expectations around Committee member engagement with information sources. In 1985,
DACOWITS developed a handbook and installation visit guide to clarify the Committee’s
operating guidelines and assist members with planning and conducting their visits to
military installations. The current chair has prioritized the member handbook by ensuring it
is current and comprehensive and able to serve as a reference document for all Committee
activities and business.
DACOWITS has also recognized the importance of consistently reviewing its structure,
mission, and guiding principles to ensure they maintain their relevance over time. For
its 50th anniversary in 2001, the Committee established a subcommittee to examine
DACOWITS’ mission, goals and objectives, technical and structural systems, decision-
making processes, and personnel systems.
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
15
DACOWITS Support of Other DoD Activities
Historically, DACOWITS members have
engaged in various DoD activities outside
the scope of the Committee’s eorts to
advise the Secretary of Defense. Members of
the Committee have participated in a variety
of DoD celebrations and ceremonies to help
increase public awareness of DACOWITS.
These events have included the 1952 White
House ceremony to commemorate the
rst issue of a postage stamp honoring
women in the U.S. military; the 1995
ceremony to break ground for the Women
in Military Service for America Memorial (also known as the Women’s Memorial); and the
2001 ceremony at the Army Women’s Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia, to commemorate
DACOWITS’ rst installation visit to the Women’s Army Corps Training Center in 1951. More
recently, the Committee has continued to publicly celebrate and support women in the
Military Services by cohosting a 2017 event with the U.S. Department of Veterans Aairs’
Center for Women Veterans to celebrate Loretta P. Walsh, the rst woman to enlist into U.S.
military service, who joined March 21, 1917.
74
DACOWITS’ eorts have also resulted in the development of other DoD task forces.
These have included the DoD Task Force on Women in the Military, established in 1987
in response to DACOWITS recommendations, and the DoD Quality of Life Task Force,
established in 1994. As evidenced by the activities described earlier in this section,
Committee members have prioritized participating in supplemental activities focused
on women’s experiences in the Military Services to build awareness and celebrate the
accomplishments of such women, and they continue to do so.
In 2020, DACOWITS commemorated the 40th anniversary of
the rst female graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the
U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S Military Academy at West
Point. Three members of those graduating classes have served
on DACOWITS-- MAJ (Ret) Priscilla Locke, Ms. Janie Mines, and
current DACOWITS Chair Gen (Ret.) Janet Wolfenbarger.
DACOWITS members who were in the rst class of female graduates
of the Military Service Academies pictured with the former DACOWITS
Military Director and Designated Federal Ofcer, Colonel Toya Davis
(second from right). Source: Cronk, 2020.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the First Female Graduates
of Military Service Academies
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
16
Looking Ahead: The Future of DACOWITS
Building on its legacy and dedicated history,
DACOWITS continues to serve by providing
independent advice and recommendations
to the Secretary of Defense on matters and
policies relating to the recruitment, retention,
employment, integration, well-being, and
treatment of women in the Military Services.
The Committee will continue its work toward
making recommendations to improve
the lives of servicewomen that will have
lasting impacts beyond the current decade.
Although DACOWITS focuses its eorts on
servicewomen, all Service members benet
when the Committee’s recommendations
are implemented. The Committee’s rich history and sustained eort live on as its members
rigorously study relevant topics of concern to DoD, conduct installation visits, and determine
recommendations that will help guide the future of the U.S. military for years to come.
DACOWITS’ 2019 installation visit to Joint Base Elmendorf-
Richardson. Photo from the DACOWITS archives
17
Chapter 4. Analysis of DACOWITS
Recommendations, 1951 to Present
S
ince its inception in 1951, DACOWITS has made more than 1,000 recommendations
on dozens of topics and themes. As of 2019, 97 percent of the recommendations
iii
made have been fully or partially adopted by DoD.
75
The following chapter provides
an analysis of the Committee’s recommendations over time, including the research team’s
methodology and brief discussions of the most prevalent themes.
Trends in DACOWITS Recommendations
Based on a review of DACOWITS meeting minutes,
reports, and internal documents the Committee made a
total of 1,062 recommendations between 1967 and
2020.
iv3
In addition to standard recommendations,
continuing concerns and commendations were also
included in the analysis; these three types of actions are
referred to collectively as recommendations in this report.
Recommendation Analysis Methods
The research team used qualitative methods to analyze the more than 1,000
recommendations DACOWITS made from 1967 to 2020. As outlined in this section, the
research team coded each recommendation by theme (e.g., benets and entitlements,
career progression, family support); type (standard recommendations, commendations, or
continuing concerns); purpose (e.g., program resources and/or support, policy change); and
the target population or audience (e.g., all the Military Services, one specic Service) for the
recommendation.
Coding Recommendations by Theme
The research team rst chronologically organized the recommendations and coded each
observation by general themes and subthemes. General themes were initially derived from
topics highlighted in past DACOWITS annual reports available on the DACOWITS website.
76
Throughout the coding process, the themes were rened and subthemes introduced
to allow for greater specicity in coding and later analysis. Each recommendation was
coded with at least one theme. In cases when a recommendation explicitly pertained to
more than one theme, the two most prevalent themes were coded. Out of a total of 1,062
recommendations, 763 were coded with 1 theme, and 299 were coded with 2 themes.
iii
Recommendations made prior to 2018
iv
Recommendations made prior to 1967 are accessible only by manually retrieving them from the National Archives.
Because recommendations made prior to 1967 were not readily accessible, they were not included in the analysis.
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
18
Coding Recommendations by Type
In addition to themes, the research team designated each observation as a standard
recommendation (observation in which DACOWITS recommended DoD or the Military
Services make changes); continuing concern (matter that came to the attention of
DACOWITS but about which the Committee was not prepared to make a recommendation),
or commendation (praise by DACOWITS for a policy, program, Military Service, or individual).
Some commendations also included a recommendation.
Coding Recommendations by Purpose
The research team identied the purpose of each recommendation. Common purposes
were whether the recommendation pertained to program resources and/or support,
research, symbolic recognition, internal DACOWITS activity, a policy change, or a legal
change. Any recommendations that did not appropriately t into these categories were
coded as “other.”
Coding Recommendations by Target Entity
The research team identied the target entities or audience toward which each
recommendation was directed—classifying whether the recommendation was intended for
all Military Services, Service specic,
v4
DACOWITS itself, or some other population.
Descriptions of the common themes, types, purposes, and target populations of the
recommendations follow.
Common Themes Addressed in Recommendations
Throughout the years, DACOWITS’ recommendations have addressed a variety of topics
and subtopics. Table 4.1 presents the most common topics of concern for the Committee,
organized alphabetically. The ndings outlining the number of recommendations the
Committee made regarding each topic area are described later in this chapter.
Table 4.1. Common Themes and Subthemes Addressed in DACOWITS
Recommendations, 1967 to 2020
Themes and Subthemes Description
Benets and entitlements Benets, salary, or entitlements received by current or former Service members
Base allowance for quarters Housing allowances
Housing Housing on or o base for Service members
TRICARE Healthcare for Service members
Career progression
Career progression of a Service member, including career planning and
trajectories, transitions and/or assistance related to assignments and
placements, and leadership development
Deployment Transitions related to deployments
v
Recommendations that were directed to two or three Services are included in the Service-specic category.
19
Themes and Subthemes Description
Reintegration Transitions related to reintegration after returning from deployments
Pregnancy status Transitions related to pregnancy status
Transition between Active
and Reserve Components
Transitions related to members of the Reserve or Guard moving to active duty
status or active duty Service members moving to the Reserve or Guard
Veterans
Transitions related to separating from the U.S. military and moving to veteran
status; also includes general recommendations related to veterans
Promotion and/or career
advancement
Career advancement, promotion criteria, and performance evaluations
Enlistment Standards or practices used around enlistment
Leadership development and
representation
Initiatives for leadership or mentoring development, including both individual
members of the U.S. military (developing their personal leadership skills) and the
Military Services’ leadership as a whole (e.g., strengthening ocer training); also
includes diversity (e.g., race, gender, ethnicity) initiatives for underrepresented
leaders, including at the executive/advisory board level
Communication and/or
dissemination
Communication or dissemination of information from the branches or
DoD to Service members and/or civilians; for example, “increase eective
communication”
Education and/or training Education or training
Basic training Basic or recruit training
MSAs Education and trainings conducted at MSAs
Youth programming Education and trainings for children younger than 18
ROTC ROTC or Junior ROTC programs
New training or conferences Creation and/or implementation of new trainings or organization of conferences
Modications to existing
training or conferences
Expanding or modifying existing trainings or conferences
Family support Policies aimed at supporting families and their dependents
Child care Child care
Domestic abuse Domestic abuse
Dual-military couples
Spouses who both are current Service members; includes co-location policies for
such couples
Family leave policies
Parental or family leave policies that allow Service members to take leave when
having/adopting a child
Sabbaticals
Sabbatical programs that allow Service members to take leave to pursue other
areas of life
Gender equality and
integration
Equalizing standards or guidelines for genders, including integrating women
into previously closed positions or units, and barriers preventing full integration;
also includes utilization OR increasing the number/percentage of women in
underrepresented elds
Women in combat Integrating women into previously closed combat positions
Gender bias
Gender bias or sexism involving any prejudice or stereotyping based on gender or
sex
Physical tness standards
Completion, implementation, and components of physical tness tests or
the discussion of physical tness test requirements; body specications,
measurements and scales, and physical ability requirements deemed necessary for
adequate job performance
Uniforms and equipment Uniforms and equipment used by female Service members
Reserve and Guard
components
Reserve or Guard, specically
20
Themes and Subthemes Description
Internal to DACOWITS
DACOWITS processes or the dissemination of information pertaining to
DACOWITS
Marketing and recruitment
Media or programs specically designed to promote a given entity (e.g., the
Military Services) or related to the recruitment of female Service members
Portrayal of female Service
members in media
Depiction and representation of female Service members in the media; e.g., print,
video, television, stamps, radio
Retention Female attrition and retention
Sexual harassment and
sexual assault
Both sexual harassment and sexual assault
Sexual harassment Related to sexual harassment, but not sexual assault
Sexual assault Related to sexual assault, but not sexual harassment
Unit culture and morale Unit culture or morale
Women’s health and well-
being
Women’s health, including reproductive health
Breastfeeding and lactation Breastfeeding and lactation policies, programs, or support
Mental health Mental health, including drug or alcohol abuse and posttraumatic stress
Pregnancy Pregnancy, including postpartum
Notes:
MSA = Military Service Academies
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
77, 78
Common Types of Recommendations
Each recommendation has been designated as a standard recommendation, continuing
concern, or commendation. The denition and prevalence for each recommendation type is
shown in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1. Definition for Each Type of DACOWITS Recommendation,
and Distribution of Types
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
79, 80
Common Purposes of Recommendations
DACOWITS recommendations served a variety of purposes. The largest category,
representing 53 percent of all recommendations, aimed to enact a policy change. Of
21
the remainder, 13 percent (136 recommendations) pertained to program resources and/
or support; 13 percent (140) pertained to research; 9 percent (99) applied to internal
DACOWITS activities; 3 percent (35) focused on symbolic recognition; 2 percent (16)
pertained to a legal change; and 7 percent (78) were classied as other (see Figure 4.2).
Figure 4.2. Percentage of DACOWITS Recommendations by Purpose
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
81, 82
Common Target Entities for Recommendations
Each DACOWITS recommendation is directed toward a specic entity tasked with
considering the change proposed by the Committee. Recommendations are directed
toward all the Military Services, a specic Service,
vi5
DACOWITS itself, or some other entity.
Of the 1,062 recommendations analyzed, two-thirds (707, or 67 percent) were directed
to all Military Services; 186 (18 percent) were Service specic; 116 (11 percent) pertained to
DACOWITS; and 53 (5 percent) pertained to another population (see Figure 4.3).
Figure 4.3. Percentage of DACOWITS Recommendations by Target Entity
Note: Percentages do not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
83, 84
vi
Recommendations that were directed to two or three Services are included in the Service specic category.
22
DACOWITS Recommendations Across the Decades
A broad examination of DACOWITS’ work during the past seven decades shows how a
range of factors have inuenced the production of the Committee’s recommendations.
The Committee made the majority of its recommendations during the 1970s and 2000s,
coinciding with the Vietnam War and the transition to an All-Volunteer Force in 1973, and
the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Figure
4.4).
Figure 4.4. Number of DACOWITS Recommendations by Decade
Note:
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
85, 86
In the 1970s, the Committee focused on recommendations related to gender equality
and integration, followed by recommendations pertaining to benets and entitlements for
current and former Service members, and career progression of Service members. Despite
a consistent decrease in the number of gender equality and integration recommendations
throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the topic remained the Committee’s top priority in the 30
years following the U.S. military’s transition to an All-Volunteer Force. In the 2000s, the
Committee focused its recommendations on family support and career progression, and
in the 2010s, the focus shifted to gender integration and sexual harassment and sexual
assault.
History of DACOWITS Areas of Concern as Reflected in Its
Recommendations
This section presents the common themes and topics addressed by DACOWITS
recommendations from 1951 to the present.
vii6
DACOWITS recommendations fell into 13
broad topics (see Figure 4.5, which is ordered alphabetically). Each subsection addresses
one topic. The results, which are presented in order of frequency, also include a discussion
of subtopics relevant to each overarching theme and illustrative examples of DACOWITS
recommendations related to that topic over time.
vii
The recommendations are presented exactly as originally written (except where redacted for clarity/brevity); as a result,
there are some inconsistencies in capitalization and other aspects of the recommendation text across different years and
iterations of the Committee.
*
23
Figure 4.5. DACOWITS Recommendations by Topic and Decade
Note:
Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
Size of circles in this gure represents the number of associated recommendations for each decade.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
87, 88
24
Gender Equality and Integration
Throughout its history a core focus of the Committee has been improving the gender
equality and integration of women into the U.S. military. As a result, the greatest percentage
(24 percent) of all the recommendations made by DACOWITS have focused on gender
equality and integration. Most recently, the Committee recommended in 2020 that “the
Secretary of Defense should designate a single oce of primary responsibility to provide
active attention and oversight to the implementation of the Military Services’ gender
integration plans in order to restore momentum and measure progress.” Within the broader
category of gender equality and integration, DACOWITS has made recommendations
specically related to women in combat, gender bias, uniforms and equipment, and physical
tness standards (see Figure 4.6).
Figure 4.6. Proportion of DACOWITS Gender Equality and Integration
Recommendations by Topic and Decade
Note:
Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
89, 90
Women in combat
DACOWITS has been advocating for women’s equal opportunity in combat since 1975
and has made 86 recommendations on this topic. Over the years, the focus of these
recommendations has varied. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, DACOWITS
focused on the repeal of or revision to portions of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which included
combat exclusion statutes that restricted women’s service. Recommendations related
to Title 10 of the U.S. Code, sections 8549 and 6015, represented nearly a quarter (23
percent) of the 86 recommendations DACOWITS made pertaining to women in combat,
including the assignment of women to combat aircraft and on combatant ships. As those
recommendations were implemented and portions of the existing policies were repealed
in 1991 and 1993, respectively, DACOWITS turned its attention to the assignment of women
to Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) positions in the Army. DACOWITS made 12
recommendations related to opening MLRS positions for women. Recently, DACOWITS
recommended female Service members receive combat training, and DoD remove gender-
based restrictions on military assignments to include career elds, specialties, schooling
25
and training opportunities that were historically closed to women. In December 2015, former
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced all combat jobs would be open to women,
marking a new historic turning point for the U.S. military.
91
DACOWITS has also made many
recommendations related to combat equipment and gear and modications to height and
weight standards to allow women to better serve in these combat roles.
Examples of recommendations related to women in combat included the following:
¡ Allowing women to serve in
combat roles. (1967) “DACOWITS
recommends that laws now
preventing women from serving
their country in combat and
combat related or support
positions be repealed.”
¡ Repealing of portions of Title
10 of the U.S. Code. (1976)
“DACOWITS recommends
that the Oce of the Secretary
of Defense (OSD) direct the
Department of the Navy to initiate legislation to revise or repeal 10 U. S. C. 6015,
so as to provide women of the Navy and Marine Corps access and assignment to
vessels and aircraft under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy, and that
OSD direct the Department of the Air Force to initiate amendment or repeal of 10 U.
S. C. 8549, so as to permit assignment of women to aircraft.”
¡ Repealing of portions of Title 10 of the U.S. Code. (1982) “DACOWITS wishes to
reiterate its position urging the Department of Defense and Transportation to seek
repeal of 10 U. S. C. 6015 and 8549. Repeal to these statutes is all the more urgent
now in light of the passage of the Department Ocer Personnel Management Act
(DOPMA), which provides for integrated selection boards for men and women;
however, full equality for women continues to be signicantly inhibited by this
legislation.”
¡ Allowing women to serve in combat roles. (1992) “As the Department of Defense
denes exception to the general policy of opening assignments to women (e.g.,
direct combat on the ground, physical requirements, privacy arrangements),
DACOWITS recommends that great care be taken to ensure no positions or skills
previously or currently open to women be closed.”
¡ Repealing of portions of Title 10 of the U.S. Code. (1992) “DACOWITS recommends
the Secretary of Defense Support the repeal of Tide 10, U. S. C. 6015 (U. S. Navy) and
8549 (U. S. Air Force), the Combat Exclusion Statutes.”
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
26
¡ Opening combat aircraft assignments to women. (1994) “DACOWITS rearms and
further emphasizes its recommendations that the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air
Force open all combat aircraft assignments to women, including Army Air Cavalry
Regiments and Special Operations.”
¡ Allowing women to serve in combat roles. (2000) “DACOWITS recommends in
the strongest possible terms that the Army open Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
(MLRS) to the assignment of women....”
¡ Permitting women to receive combat training. (2009) “Considering the uidity
of today’s battleeld, DACOWITS recommends that the Services ensure that all
personnel not possessing a combat arms MOS [military operational specialty]
(i.e., currently all female Service members and many males) receive, at a minimum,
a baseline of combat related training prior to deployment to a combat theatre
of operations. This should include “hands-on” weapons qualication and
familiarization up to and including crew served weapons (e.g., mounted light,
medium, and heavy machine guns), defensive and oensive convoy measures,
perimeter defensive tactics, etc.”
¡ Removing gender-based restrictions on military assignments. (2012) “DoD
should eliminate the 1994 ground combat exclusion policy and direct the Services
to eliminate their respective assignment rules, thereby ending the gender based
restrictions on military assignments. Concurrently, DoD and the Services should
open all related career elds, specialties, schooling and training opportunities that
have been closed to women as a result of the DoD ground combat exclusion policy
and Service assignment policies.”
¡ Opening closed positions to women. (2015) “The Secretary of Defense should open
all closed units, occupational specialties, positions, and training to Service members
who meet the requisite qualications, regardless of gender. No exceptions should
be granted that would continue any restrictions on the service of women.”
viii7
¡ Maximizing opportunities for women to serve on ships. (2019) “The Secretary
of Defense should establish strategic-level oversight within the Navy and Marine
Corps to maximize opportunities for women to serve on ships while meeting
strategic Service needs.”
Gender bias
DACOWITS has a long history of making recommendations aimed at mitigating gender
bias and has made at least 82 recommendations on this topic. In the 1960s and early 1970s,
DACOWITS focused on garnering support for the Griths-Tower Bill, which addressed
unconstitutional inequities in benets for the dependents of military women. In the 1980s,
DACOWITS turned its attention to disparities in Junior Reserve Ocers’ Training Corps
viii
Note this recommendation was sent to the Secretary of Defense early to ensure he considered it before making his
nal decision about opening all units and positions to women.
27
(JROTC), Reserve Ocers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and MSA admission standards for men
and women. While DACOWITS made only one recommendation related to gender bias
between 2000 and 2010, this topic has been of greater focus more recently because
of recommendations made in 2018 and 2019. Since 2012, DACOWITS has made nine
recommendations encouraging the Department and the Military Services to establish,
update, and/or standardize policies that address gender bias or discrimination.
Examples of recommendations related to gender bias included the following:
¡ Supporting the Griths-Tower Bill. (1969) “DACOWITS rearms its stand on H. R.
466, the Griths - Tower bill which provides equal treatment for married women
members of the Armed Services. We welcome with appreciation the armative
support of DoD. DACOWITS stands ready in any and every way to assist in
expediting passage of this bill.”
¡ Removing sex as a determining factor in assignments. (1970) “DACOWITS
notes with concern that the DoD and its civilianization program in support of
the all-volunteer force concept has considered that military positions lled by
Servicewomen are possibly more vulnerable to civilization. The Committee strongly
believes that the sex of the occupant of the position should not be the determining
factor. Should the sex of the occupant be the determining factor, such practice
would be incompatible with the goal of moving toward the zero draft since women
of the Armed Forces represent a source of true volunteers.”
¡ Removing degrading on-base entertainment. (1988)
“DACOWITS recommends that regulations and policies
on clubs and on-base entertainment require that such
entertainment not be degrading to members of either sex.”
¡ Introducing a policy on gender discrimination. (1998)
“DACOWITS recommends that the Secretary of Defense
publish a written policy statement on sexual harassment,
equal opportunity and gender discrimination and emphasize
publicly his commitment to that policy.”
¡ Reviewing policies aimed at eliminating gender
discrimination. (2018) “The Secretary of Defense should
conduct a comprehensive assessment of the eectiveness
of the Military Services’ policies, standards, training, and enforcement to eliminate
gender discrimination and sexual harassment.”
¡ Introducing a policy on gender bias. (2019) “The Secretary of Defense should
establish a DoD policy that denes and provides guidance to eliminate conscious
and unconscious gender bias.”
Photo from the DACOWITS
archives
28
DACOWITS has made 28 recommendations related to uniforms and equipment; the rst
time this recommendation theme appeared in the analysis sample was in 1972. Between
1979 and 1987, the Committee made six recommendations advocating for footwear or boots
designed for the female foot. More recently, DACOWITS has focused its recommendations
on ensuring access to uniforms that are appropriately sized—for example, ensuring combat
uniforms and equipment are designed with female Service members in mind.
Examples of recommendations related to uniforms included the following:
¡ Evaluating adequacy of uniforms and equipment. (1978) “DACOWITS recommends
that the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation establish a
special inter service committee to evaluate adequacy and make Recommendations
to correct the identied deciencies in the following areas:
a. Field/Organizational Clothing
b. Maintenance allowance for Clothing
c. Special equipment which is indigenous to the unit mission.”
¡ Addressing problems with uniforms. (1982) “DACOWITS considers that the
problems with uniforms, including footwear, for women military members have
continued and been studied long enough. We recommend that the problems of
design, size, quality, distribution, and availability now be appropriately addressed
and promptly resolved. A simpler and better publicized system to register
complaints should be incorporated into the distribution system. DACOWITS
requests a progress report on the resolution of these problems in a brieng at the
FALL 1982 Meeting.”
¡ Designing boots for servicewomen. (1984) “DACOWITS recommends that the
ocers of the Services responsible for uniform initiatives make every, eort to
incorporate state of the art computer technology in the design of uniforms and
equipment for women, for instance, a boot designed to t the female foot.”
¡ Researching equipment designed for servicewomen. (2009) “DACOWITS
recommends that DoD and the Services invest in research and development
of equipment designed specically for use by women. DACOWITS notes that
improved equipment for women can facilitate the success of women in combat,
mission readiness and mission accomplishment. For example, due to the dicult
logistics of urinating while wearing their normally issued clothing and equipment,
particularly in austere environments, women often minimize uid intake, placing
them at risk for dehydration and urinary tract infections.”
¡ Providing gender-appropriate equipment. (2018) “The Secretary of Defense should
require all Military Services, including the Reserve/Guard, to provide servicewomen
with gender appropriate and properly tting personal protective equipment and gear
for both training and operational use.”
Uniforms
29
Physical fitness standards
While DACOWITS made one of its rst recommendations concerning physical tness
standards in 1975, most (55 percent) were made between 2010 and 2019. Initially, these
recommendations focused on developing nondiscriminatory occupational physical
standards and applying the standards equally across Service members and positions. Since
the late 1990s, DACOWITS has focused its recommendations around height, weight, and
body fat measurements, scientically supported and validated standards, and pregnancy
and postpartum standards.
Examples of recommendations related to physical tness standards included the following:
¡ Developing nondiscriminatory occupational physical standards. (1975)
“DACOWITS recommends that the Military Departments develop non-
discriminatory physical standards for the assignment of military personnel to select
military specialties. Matching an individual’s physical capabilities to the specic job
requirement seems appropriate.”
¡ Validating physical standards. (2012) “Any Physical Standards should be validated
to accurately predict performance of actual regular and recurring duties of a military
job and applied equitably to measure individual capabilities. Women as a class
should not be restricted from military assignments because to do so would exclude
available, capable personnel based on gender and not on the requirements of the
job, at a sacrice to military readiness.”
¡ Reviewing physical tness standards and body fat programs. (2016) “The Secretary
of Defense should require a complete review and update of the 2002 DoD Physical
Fitness and Body Fat Programs Procedures (DoDI 1308.3) with the recent opening
of more than 200,000 positions to servicewomen.”
¡ Adding holistic and preventative health screenings. (2019) “The Secretary of
Defense should direct the Military Services to implement a holistic, preventative
health screening, conducted by medical professionals, as part of the overall physical
tness assessment and provide access to uniform and consistent health and
nutritional counseling as part of their physical tness programs.”
Career Progression
DACOWITS has consistently prioritized supporting professional development policies and
programs for women in the U.S. military throughout the past several decades. One of the
Committee’s earliest recommendations regarding women’s career progression was issued
in both 1967 and 1968, when DACOWITS made recommendations surrounding involuntary
separation because of pregnancy. The Committee has also made recommendations
related to reintegration, deployment, leadership development and representation, Reserve
duty transitions, transition assistance support, promotions and career advancement,
enlistment, and veterans (see Figure 4.7). DACOWITS has made 187 career progression
recommendations, mostly during the 1970s and 2000s. Promotion and career
30
advancement has been the only recommendation topic relevant to career progression to be
addressed every decade from the 1960s to the present.
Figure 4.7. Proportion of DACOWITS Career Progression Recommendations
by Topic and Decade
Notes:
Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
92, 93
Promotion and career advancement
DACOWITS has continued to prioritize promotion
and career advancement for women. The Committee
has made at least 49 recommendations pertaining
to promotion and career advancement, 60 percent of
which were made in the 1970s (37 percent), and 1980s
(24 percent).
Many of the recommendations made in the rst half
of the 1970s focused on opportunities for members
serving in medical roles, including support for an
amendment to Title 10 of the U.S. Code to improve
promotion and appointment opportunities for medical
specialists and nurses. Between 1970 and 1975, DACOWITS made 16 recommendations
related to increasing medical corps opportunities. The Committee’s focus during the
middle and later parts of the decade was on the support of the Defense Ocer Personnel
Management Act (DOPMA) and the equalization of opportunities for women to hold ag
ocer ranks.
Recommendations in the 1980s shifted to general promotion opportunities for women
across the Military Services before shifting back to opportunities for nurses and Army
Medical Department ocers between 1989 and throughout the early 1990s. Overall, the
number of promotion and career advancement recommendations has declined since the
Army Master Sgt. Matthew Proctor and Sgt. 1st
Class Tory Clayborne participate in a ceremony
promoting Erin Hensley from specialist to
sergeant at Camp Taji, Iraq, June 24, 2019.
31
1990s. More recent recommendations have focused on the career progression of enlisted
women, promotion and career advancement via academic education and mentorship
programs, increasing racial and ethnic diversity, and reviewing policies that promote career
retention, especially for married ocers with children.
Examples of recommendations related to promotion and career advancement included the
following:
¡ Promoting and appointing medical specialists and nurses. (1968) “DACOWITS
recommends where legislation provides for appointment of commissioned ocers
in the Regular Service and restricts appointment with regard to certain components
that all such exceptions be repealed; for example, (Section 8288 (a) and (b) of Title
10 U. S. C. which relates to Air Force Nurses and Medical Specialists).”
¡ Encouraging equal opportunities
for women earning ag ocer rank.
(1975) “DACOWITS recommends that
the Department of Defense vigorously
pursue passage of DOPMA by
Congress during the calendar year
1975; if DOPMA is not enacted by
Congress, that provision be made for
separate legislation to be introduced
in 1975 to equalize opportunities
for women in the armed services to
be promoted to ag/general ocer
rank, to provide an opportunity for members of the Army Nurse Corps to exercise
command within the Army medical Department, and to improve the opportunity of
nurses and medical specialists for appointment and promotion….”
¡ Appointing, retaining, and compensating nurses. (1989) “DACOWITS recommends
that the Secretary of Defense take timely and positive action to resolve nurse
accession, retention, compensation, promotion, and motivation issues through
appropriate measures to include legislation.”
¡ Promoting career retention. (2004) “The Services should review existing programs
and policies designed to promote career retention, identifying and reporting on
opportunities to apply them more broadly, especially to married ocers with
children.”
¡ Appointing enlisted women. (2014) “All Services should systematically increase the
accessions of women into the enlisted ranks.”
¡ Increasing women’s retention at senior levels, with emphasis on racial and ethnic
diversity. (2019) “The Secretary of Defense should direct the Military Services to
develop and implement initiatives to increase senior female representation as a part
of the Total Force, at the E-9 and O-7 and above grade levels, to include emphasis
on increasing racial and ethnic diversity at these levels.”
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
32
Leadership development and representation
Beginning in the 1970s, DACOWITS began prioritizing the leadership development and
representation of women in the Military Services. Over the years, DACOWITS has made 44
related recommendations, half of which were made after 2000. The rst recommendation
within the analysis period, made in 1970, pertained to the inclusion of servicewomen in
DoD studies, committees, commissions, and task forces. Most of the recommendations
made throughout the 1970s and 1980s focused on the utilization of women in leadership
positions and ensuring their representation on advisory committees and boards.
Beginning in the 1990s and extending through the 2010s, the Committee’s
recommendations focused heavily on education, training programs, and mentorship
programs. While the number of recommendations related to leadership development and
representation declined in the 1980s and 1990s, DACOWITS increased its focus in the
2000s, making 12 such recommendations. This topic was an outstanding theme in 2008 in
particular; in addition to recommending the expansion of mentorship programs, DACOWITS
recommended research to identify best practices for character development programs, the
provision of programs on personal behavior and decisionmaking, and work-life balance
for junior Service members. During the past decade, DACOWITS shifted its focus primarily
toward the recruitment and accession of women into the enlisted and ocer ranks while
also continuing its promotion of mentorship.
Examples of recommendations related to leadership development and representation
included the following:
¡ Increasing female representation. (1970) “That any DoD ‘in house’ studies,
Committees, commissions, task forces, present or in the future, include an
appropriate representative of Women in the Service….”
¡ Maximizing leadership potential. (1994) “DACOWITS recommends that military
education and training programs address maximizing the full leadership potential
of Service women. To this end, the Services should initiate periodic reviews
and evaluation of the leadership development process in entry level career
development, senior leadership programs, and general/ag ocer training to
ensure the complete employment of all Service members.”
¡ Evaluating eectiveness of mentorship programs. (2005) “Each Service collect
data and evaluate the eectiveness of the mentoring program.”
¡ Increasing accessions of women into ocer and enlisted ranks. (2015) “All
Services should systematically increase the accessions of women into the ocer
and enlisted ranks.”
¡ Requiring mentorship as part of leadership training. (2016) “The Secretary of
Defense should require the Military Services to include training on mentorship as
an essential part of leadership training, including discussion of the role and the
meaning of mentorship, and of the mentoring of women by both women and men.
The Committee does not recommend formal, mandatory mentorship programs.”
33
¡ Mandating diverse gender slates. (2017)
“The Secretary of Defense should direct
the Military Services to create policies
similar to the Air Force best practice
of mandating diverse gender slates
for key developmental/nominative
positions such as those for aides and
military assistants, which are routinely
considered springboards to higher
ranks.”
Deployment
The issue of deployment was raised by the Committee as early as 1978 and pertained
to extending entitlements to dependents of junior, forward-deployed men and women.
DACOWITS has made an additional 25 recommendations focused on deployments, all of
which have occurred since 2003. Many of these recommendations focused on benets for
and consideration of the families and children of deployed Service members.
Examples of recommendations related to deployment included the following:
¡ Extending dependent entitlements for deployed Service members. (1978)
“DACOWITS recommends that OSD and the Services continue to pursue extension
of dependency entitlements to junior service women and men assigned overseas.”
¡ Supporting families during deployments. (2004) “Leadership should strongly
support programs that promote family readiness. Letters should be mailed home
to the families of all deploying Service members with information about anticipated
deployment schedules, support programs, points of contact for legal aairs, nancial
issues, childcare options, psychological counseling and other available resources.”
¡ Promoting female health and hygiene while deployed. (2007) “Recommend
brieng female Service members in-theatre on female-specic health and hygiene
issues, using the CHPPM [U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative
Medicine] Soldier’s Guide to Female Soldier Readiness or comparable document
as a guide. This will ensure that all female Service members have the health and
hygiene information they need while deployed.”
¡ Providing predeployment health assessment and health education while
deployed. (2012) “The pre-deployment health assessment for women should
provide information on eective urogenital hygiene practices, use of female urinary
diversion devices, symptoms and treatment of vaginitis and urinary tract infections,
options for birth control and menstrual cycle control, and ways to manage stress.
This information should also be part of continuing health education for deployed
women.”
Photo from the DACOWITS archives
34
¡ Researching impacts of reintegration on military mothers. (2019) “The Secretary
of Defense should commission a research project to identify and assess the
potentially unique impacts on military mothers who are reintegrating into the family
after deployments.”
Family Support
Support for the families and the work-life balance of Service members was prioritized by
DACOWITS as early as 1968, when the Committee recommended DoD study its denitions
of spouse and dependents of women Service members to ensure equal benets were
oered to spouses and dependents of both male and female Service members. Specic
recommendations within this topic also pertained to dual-military couples, family leave
policies, family support, sabbaticals, child care, and domestic abuse (see Figure 4.8).
DACOWITS made 10 recommendations related to family support throughout the 1970s
and 1980s, then increased the priority of this topic in the 1990s and again in the 2000s.
Throughout the past seven decades, DACOWITS made a total of 145 family support
recommendations; two-thirds were issued between 2000 and 2009 in response to the
elevated pressures of war and high operational tempo on military spouses and families.
Figure 4.8. Proportion of DACOWITS Family Support Recommendations
by Topic and Decade
Notes:
Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
94, 95
Child care
Based on available data, DACOWITS rst highlighted child care policies in its 1979
recommendations. Since then, the Committee has made recommendations pertaining to
child care every decade, resulting in 28 recommendations to date. DACOWITS’ focus on
this topic consistently increased over time through the 2000s.
35
Many of the earliest child care recommendations focused on establishing child care
programs and facilities and accommodating Service members with children. In 1988, the
focus of recommendations shifted to increasing the funding for child care services and
facilities. Since 2000, most of the recommendations have focused on child care availability
and capacity, which continues to be an ongoing issue.
Examples of recommendations related to child care included the following:
¡ Accommodating Service members who have child care responsibilities. (1983)
“DACOWITS recommends all Military Services continue to expand their eorts to
accommodate military members with child care responsibilities.”
¡ Increasing funding for child care facilities and services. (1988) “DACOWITS
recommends that the Secretary of Defense support legislation which increases the
authorization and appropriation of funds for child care facilities and services.”
¡ Ensuring child care availability. (2001) “DACOWITS was briefed by the Oce of
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) on eorts
to increase child care availability for military personnel. DACOWITS fully supports
the Services’ eorts and recommends continuation of strategies and plans being
implemented.…”
¡ Increasing child care capacity and resources. (2019) “The Secretary of Defense
should allocate increased funding to address the lack of adequate child care
capacity and on- and o-installation child care resources, to include construction/
expansion of child care facilities and initiatives to ensure sucient child
development center stang and family child care home providers.”
Family leave policies
The Committee rst ocially focused on family leave in 1988, recommending all Services
provide servicewomen with 6 weeks of postpartum nonchargeable leave. Its next family
leave policy recommendation was made in 1998, identical to the recommendation
made in 1988, reiterating the persistence of DACOWITS’ sustained attention to these
issues. Throughout the last two decades, DACOWITS has made an additional 13 related
recommendations, most of which focused on family leave for newborn care. However,
a 2006 recommendation specically identied family leave for other purposes, which
included taking care of “aging parents and critically ill family members.” More recently,
DACOWITS focused on exible leave for primary and secondary caregivers in similar 2017,
2018, and 2020 recommendations, as well as a 2020 recommendation that supported
removing barriers for designating primary and secondary caregiver status.
Examples of recommendations related to family leave policies included the following:
¡ Ensuring access to postpartum leave. (1988 and 1998) “DACOWITS recommends
that all Services grant 6 weeks post-partum non-chargeable leave. The DACOWITS
commends the Navy for its recent actions designed to extend post-partum non-
chargeable leaves.”
36
¡ Implementing family-related leave pilot programs. (2006) “Recommend that pilot
programs of on-o ramps be implemented in all of the Services to provide exibility
for work-life balance concerns, such as care for newborns, aging parents, and
critically ill family members.”
¡ Equalizing benets for married/nonmarried Service members. (2017) “The
Secretary of Defense should consider removing the marriage stipulation from
parental leave in order to be consistent with policies that recognize non-married
parental benets.”
¡ Permitting exible use of primary and secondary caregiver leave. (2018) “The
Secretary of Defense should consider proposing legislation to allow the Military
Services to permit exible (noncontinuous) use of primary and secondary caregiver
leave, if requested by the caregiver.”
¡ Removing barriers for determining caregiver status. (2020) “The Secretary of
Defense should direct the Military Services to remove all barriers that prohibit
Service members from determining as a family which of the parents shall be
designated the primary and secondary caregivers.”
Education and/or Training
Education and/or training for Service members has been a consistent focus for DACOWITS
throughout the past seven decades. In 1967, the Committee made initial education and/or
training recommendations. Out of the 127 total related recommendations, 40 were made
during the 1970s and 44 during the 2000s. In addition to general education and/or training,
DACOWITS made related recommendations on youth programming, new trainings or
conferences, modications to existing training or conference, JROTC or ROTC, basic training,
and the MSAs (see Figure 4.9).
Figure 4.9. DACOWITS Education and/or Training Recommendations
Over Time
Note: Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
96, 97
37
Youth programming
Since 1967, DACOWITS has highlighted the importance and need for the Military Services to
support programs for our Nation’s youth, especially Service members’ children. DACOWITS
has made a total of 25 youth programming recommendations, more than half of which were
made in the 2000s. The Committee’s earliest recommendations pertained to providing
support for high school guidance counselors in an eort to inform students about careers
in the U.S. military. In the early 1970s, the focus shifted to JROTC, which included the
possibility of allowing girls to join the program. DACOWITS made the majority of its youth
programming-related recommendations in the mid- to late 2000s, primarily focusing on
supporting the children of Service members.
Examples of recommendations related to youth programming included the following:
¡ Promoting military service through guidance counselors. (1967) “Women of
DACOWITS have found a lack of information among guidance counselors at
the junior high and high school level about women in the Armed Forces, and on
obligations of and opportunities for men in the Armed Forces…. In view of changes
in draft law, the dissemination of information to counselors is especially timely.”
¡ Integrating JROTC. (1971) “In view of the stated mission of the Junior ROTC program,
it is requested that the Department of Defense provide a brieng during the Fall 1971
meeting on the Junior ROTC law (PL [Public Law] 88-647) and discuss its feasibility
and advantage for inclusion of girls in the program. This brieng should include the
views and position of the Military Departments.”
¡ Utilizing school-based youth support programs. (2008) “DACOWITS recommends
the Services more eectively inform military families about school-based
deployment support programs and highlight available online resources.…”
¡ Harnessing resources to bolster adolescent outreach programs. (2020) “The
Secretary of Defense should increase oversight and assess the eectiveness and
scale of outreach programs with the objective of directing new programs and/
or adjusting the purpose of existing programs to positively impact adolescent
women’s propensity for military service.”
MSAs
During the analysis period, DACOWITS rst issued recommendations related to the MSAs
in the mid-1970s, when the Committee advocated for the MSAs to admit women. Out of
its 21 recommendations pertaining to the MSAs, all but 1 was issued in the 1970s or 1980s.
Following the rst admission of women to the MSAs in 1976, DACOWITS shifted its focus to
admission standards, promoting the MSAs to women, and gender disparities in Academy
aptitude tests.
38
Examples of recommendations related to the MSAs included the following:
¡ Allowing admission of women to the MSAs. (1974) “DACOWITS recommends
and arms its belief in the eventuality of the admission of women to the service
academies when the question has been resolved in the Congress and/or the court.
Therefore, DACOWITS recommends that, in anticipation of this eventuality, the
armed services develop plans and be prepared to admit a minimum of one hundred
(100) women to each of their respective academies.”
¡ Allowing admission of women to the MSAs. (1975) “DACOWITS recommends
that DACOWITS be on record as strongly approving the Act of Congress admitting
women to the service academies, and stands ready to assist the several branches
of the Services and the Department of Defense in the formulation of policy
implementing the admission of women to the academies.”
¡ Studying the attitudes of male/female cadets and midshipmen. (1980)
“DACOWITS recommends that the Service Academies continue to conduct
attitudinal studies of male/female cadets/midshipmen.”
¡ Endorsing gender-integrated boxing programs. (2017) “The Secretary of Defense
should endorse the U.S. Military Service Academies’ gender integrated boxing
programs as part of the broader curriculum and direct the Academies to standardize
concussion event protocol, share lessons learned to promote safety and strengthen
the learning objectives, and adapt their programs as needed based on emerging
concussion protocol research.”
New trainings or conferences
DACOWITS has made 17 recommendations supporting the creation and implementation
of new trainings and conferences pertaining to women in the U.S. military. The Committee
made its earliest recommendations on this topic in 1974 and 1975, when it supported the
creation of a conference of “key women in the military services from NATO [North Atlantic
Treaty Organization] countries.” In the late 1970s, DACOWITS focused specically on
trainings, particularly self-defense training for all Service members. In more recent years,
DACOWITS has shifted its focus to trainings on sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Examples of recommendations related to new trainings and conferences included the
following:
¡ Convening a NATO conference of key women in the Services. (1975) “DACOWITS
recommends that the Department of Defense inform NATO that a conference of the
key women in the military services from the NATO countries is desired and that the
Department of Defense initiate the opportunity for comment on the same from the
command of NATO.”
39
¡ Supporting self-defense training. (1976) “DACOWITS recommends that the Military
Departments encourage individual self-defense training for all members of the
Services and a copy of DoD’s instruction to the Military Departments be furnished
to DACOWITS for their information and le prior to the 1977 meeting.”
¡ Delivering sexual assault training and resources. (2004) “Training should
emphasize that sexual assault is a crime that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent
of the law, and should be delivered in the context of the core values of military
Service and the mission requirements of unit cohesion and readiness.”
¡ Assessing eectiveness of policies, standards, training, and enforcement. (2018)
“The Secretary of Defense should conduct a comprehensive assessment of the
eectiveness of the Military Services’ policies, standards, training, and enforcement
to eliminate gender discrimination and sexual harassment.”
Women’s Health and Well-Being
Women’s health and well-being has been a consistent focus of DACOWITS throughout
its history. DACOWITS has made 67 recommendations on this topic, including one of its
rst recommendations in 1975 regarding the development and implementation of a sex
education program for all Service members. The Committee’s emphasis on women’s health
and well-being has increased over time; 53 of DACOWITS’ 67 recommendations on the
topic were made within the past two decades. Recommendation themes within this topic
have also included pregnancy, breastfeeding and lactation, and mental health (see Figure
4.10).
Figure 4.10. Proportion of DACOWITS Women’s Health and Well-Being
Recommendations by Topic and Decade
Note: Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
98, 99
Pregnancy
DACOWITS made 15 recommendations related to pregnancy during the last two decades.
The Committee made its rst health and well-being recommendations related to pregnancy
in 2003, which pertained primarily to care during the rst trimester of pregnancy, and the
40
duties and responsibilities of pregnant servicewomen. In more recent years, DACOWITS
has shifted its focus to postpartum policies, including leave and deferment, and the privacy
protection of pregnant and postpartum women’s health information.
Examples of recommendations related to pregnancy included the following:
¡ Implementing pregnancy antidiscrimination policies. (2003) “DACOWITS
recommends that information on … the benets of early access to OB/GYN care,
be given to all military personnel, especially those in leadership positions, through
regular mandatory briengs on family planning, pregnancy, physiological changes,
advisable health care regimens, and job performance expectations of pregnant
personnel.”
¡ Reevaluating operational deferment policies. (2015) “The Secretary of Defense
should require that the Services evaluate, at least every two years, their policies
regarding operational deferment in the case of pregnancy.”
¡ Eliminating pregnancy references for female Marines. (2018) “The Secretary of
Defense should direct the Marine Corps to eliminate the pregnancy references
found in the Marine Corps’ Performance Evaluation System, which currently
identies a female Marine’s health status by using the code “PREG” in the weight
section.”
¡ Implementing pregnancy reassignment policies. (2019) “The Secretary of Defense
should direct the Military Services to develop and implement policies that ensure a
servicewoman’s career is not negatively aected as a result of pregnancy.”
Marketing and Recruitment
DACOWITS has advocated for greater representation of women in military marketing
and recruiting materials and increased eorts to recruit women for several decades; it
has made at least 96 recommendations on this topic. Both the number and intended
audience of these recommendations varied each decade between the 1960s and 2010s
(see Figure 4.11). For example, during the 1970s, DACOWITS issued the greatest number
of recommendations related to marketing and recruitment. This was also the decade in
which DACOWITS made its greatest number of recommendations related to the depiction,
representation, and portrayal of female Service members in media, which included print,
video, television, stamps, and radio. Some of these recommendations included references
to television or lm production that would support eorts to recruit servicewomen.
DACOWITS made fewer recommendations related to marketing and recruitment in the
1980s and 1990s; however, since then, the number of recommendations has increased.
In the 2000s, DACOWITS focused its recommendations on recruitment for particular
occupations such as clergy and medical or healthcare workers. More recently, the
Committee has made broader recommendations, urging the Military Services to devote
more resources to increasing the recruitment of women into enlisted and ocer ranks.
41
Figure 4.11. Proportion of DACOWITS Marketing and Recruitment Recommendations
by Topic and Decade
Note:
Recommendations that addressed two themes were double-counted in totals.
*The year 2020 is included in 2010s.
Sources: DoD, DACOWITS, 1967–2020
100, 101
Examples of recommendations related to marketing and recruitment included the following:
¡ Including women in public demonstrations. (1967) “That in all exhibits at fairs or
any such public demonstration We’re Men of the Armed Forces are included, that
women in the various branches of the Service also be included.”
¡ Marketing via television. (1968) “DACOWITS recommends that the Department of
Defense continue to investigate the preparation of materials for ETV (Educational
Television) for the purpose of disseminating information regarding opportunities for
Women in the Services.”
¡ Honoring servicewomen on stamps. (1974) “DACOWITS recommends that the
Defense Bicentennial Planning Committee consider a series of commemorative
stamps honoring women in the military.”
¡ Maximizing Women’s History Month. (2008) “DACOWITS recommends the
Services continue to maximize installation-sponsored women’s discussions and
presentations, such as those that occur during Women’s History Month.”
¡ Recruiting servicewomen. (2014) “All Services should have targets to increase the
representation of enlisted servicewomen; these targets should be benchmarked
against the pool of eligible female recruits. Furthermore, these targets should not be
constrained by past or current representation of women in the Armed Services, or
estimates of the propensity of women to enlist.”
¡ Tailoring marketing materials. (2018) “The Secretary of Defense should require
all Military Services to tailor their marketing to inspire more women to serve by
addressing misconceptions, highlighting motivating opportunities, and providing
more emphasis on realistic portrayals of women who serve.”
42
Additional Recommendations
In addition to the themes outlined earlier in this chapter, DACOWITS published several
recommendations on the following seven priorities: internal to DACOWITS, benets and
entitlements, sexual harassment and sexual assault, communication and/or dissemination,
Reserve and Guard Components, retention, and unit culture and morale. Although these
themes did not appear as often in recommendations as the themes previously described,
they were discussed and prioritized multiple times during the analysis period.
Internal to DACOWITS
When the Committee was rst created, it was common practice to submit
recommendations related to Committee business. However, the Committee stopped
making internal recommendations in the 1980s. Between 1967 and 1985, DACOWITS
made 118 recommendations related to internal Committee procedures, requests for
briengs, or the marketing of DACOWITS materials. For example, in 1984, the Committee
recommended “Services publicize the existence and purpose of the DACOWITS.” In other
recommendations, DACOWITS made requests for reports or briengs, which are now
obtained through formal requests for information.
Benefits and entitlements
DACOWITS has made recommendations focused on benets and entitlements received by
current or former Service members since at least 1967, when the Committee recommended
an increase in base pay for junior ocers. Between 1967 and 2007, DACOWITS made
at least 99 benets or entitlements recommendations, including 47 recommendations
pertaining to housing, 18 pertaining to Basic Allowance for Quarters, and 5 pertaining
to TRICARE benets. More than 80 percent of these recommendations occurred in the
1960s or 1970s. The earliest recommendations focused mainly on salary issues, especially
readjustment pay for pregnant Service members, and housing standards. For example, in
1968, DACOWITS recommended “action be initiated to authorize a regular ocer separated
involuntarily for pregnancy be entitled to readjustment pay, just as a reserve ocer is
entitled to severance pay.” That same year, the Committee recommended “the Department
of Defense re-dene the standards of adequacy for occupancy by married women
personnel.” Over time, recommendations pertaining to benets and entitlements shifted to
focus more on improved benets for Reserve and Guard members and healthcare benets.
TRICARE was rst included in a DACOWITS recommendation in 1999, when the Committee
recommended “the DoD vigorously pursue its plan to improve TRICARE [including with
regard to] benets, access, enrollment, quality.” The Committee’s most recent benets-
related recommendations were made in 2007—one regarding housing, and one regarding
TRICARE—suggesting that the most essential improvements in these areas have been
achieved.
43
Sexual harassment and sexual assault
During the analysis period, DACOWITS rst issued recommendations related to sexual
harassment and sexual assault in the mid-1970s, when the Committee advocated for the
Oce of the Secretary of Defense to review the Services’ rape prevention program. Out of
its 73 recommendations pertaining to sexual harassment and sexual assault, all but 2 were
issued after 2003. Notably, DACOWITS made at least one recommendation concerning
sexual harassment and sexual assault every year between 2011 and 2018. Overall, the
majority of the recommendations (52 percent) related specically to sexual assault; 30
percent related specically to sexual harassment, and roughly 18 percent related to both
sexual harassment and sexual assault. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DACOWITS
made recommendations pertaining to the establishment of new policies, enforcement of
existing policies, or modication of existing policies to align with the changing denitions of
sexual harassment and sexual assault. For example, in 2004, DACOWITS recommended
“Articles 120, 128 and 134, UCMJ, should be revised to clarify and more closely align with the
ocial denition of sexual assault, ensuring that sexual assault has a clear and consistent
legal standard, distinct from sexual harassment and other sex-related oenses. DoD should
include these revisions in the 2006 legislative proposals.” More recently, DACOWITS has
shifted its focus to educational trainings, informational campaigns, or communication and/
or dissemination of policies and resources, accounting for more than a quarter of the 73
recommendations DACOWITS has made surrounding sexual harassment and sexual
assault. For example, DACOWITS recommended “the Services should revise and implement
sexual harassment training that addresses online harassment, anonymity, and the
consequences of online behavior both on- and o-duty” (2015) and that “the Secretary of
Defense should conduct a comprehensive assessment of the eectiveness of the Military
Services’ policies, standards, training, and enforcement to eliminate gender discrimination
and sexual harassment” (2018).
Communication and/or dissemination
DACOWITS made 45 recommendations throughout the study period focused on the
communication or dissemination of information from the branches or DoD to Service
members and/or civilians. The rst related recommendation was made in 1971, when the
Committee recommended DoD write a policy outlining how DACOWITS activities should be
communicated to the media. DACOWITS made more than half of the communication and
dissemination recommendations between 2003 and 2009. In the earlier part of the decade,
recommendations focused more on dissemination of education and career planning
information and the communication of resources and policies for Service members.
Beginning in 2005, recommendations focused more on communicating with families of
Service members (e.g., information for families of deployed personnel) and dissemination
of information of the Services (e.g., publicizing positive “contributions and accomplishments
of individual Service members”). Twenty percent were made during the last decade, with
44
the most recent recommendation published in 2018 advising DoD to endorse the “2017
DACOWITS recommendation on gender integration directing the Military Services to
communicate that progress more eectively with Service members as well as the general
public.”
Reserve and Guard Components
During the analysis period, DACOWITS made 37 recommendations focused on Reserve
and Guard members. In its rst recommendation, published in 1969, DACOWITS asked
to be briefed by DoD at the 1970 spring meeting on the current Reserve programs. The
Committee made no recommendations in the 1970s, and seven recommendations in the
1980s and 1990s combined. DACOWITS prioritized Reserve and Guard recommendations
during its 2005 meetings; more than half of the related recommendations were made in
that year alone. The recommendations made during the 2000s focused on a wide range of
topics that included increasing retention, improving career development opportunities for
Reserve members, developing resources for family members, and improving mobilization
predictability. Over the years, DACOWITS has made many recommendations that relate
to other topics also addressed to the Reserve and National Guard Components. For
example, in 2018, DACOWITS recommended that “the Secretary of Defense should require
all Military Services, including the Reserve/Guard, to provide servicewomen with gender
appropriate and properly tting personal protective equipment and gear for both training
and operational use.” Recently, DACOWITS has focused Reserve and Guard Component
recommendations on increasing Reserve members’ awareness of available healthcare
programs. For example, in 2007, DACOWITS recommended both the Reserve Component
and TRICARE work to increase awareness of the “continuum of health care programs
available to” Reserve members and their families.
Retention
Between 1969 and 2019, DACOWITS made 36 recommendations concerning the retention
of female Service members. The rst eight recommendations related to removing the
“restrictions to prohibit the appointment of Regular Air Force and Army Nurses and Medical
Specialists who have over 14 years of Service or who are over 39 years of age” (1970).
Still others recommended studying issues related to retention. For example, in 2004,
DACOWITS recommended the Services “should examine in greater detail the reasons for
the discrepancy between the reported intentions and actual retention of married ocers
with children” (2004). The Committee has also made recommendations related to retention
at various career points, recommending “the development and adoption of an exit survey or
surveys to assess why the attrition level for women is higher than for men at various career
points” in 2017. More recently, DACOWITS has focused its recommendations on increasing
senior female representation and improving female retention: “the Secretary of Defense
should direct the Military Services to develop and implement initiatives to increase senior
female representation as a part of the Total Force, at the E-9 and O-7 and above grade
levels, to include emphasis on increasing racial and ethnic diversity at these levels” (2019);
45
“the Secretary of Defense should direct the Military Services to review the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security’s Improving Gender Diversity in the U.S. Coast Guard: Identifying
Barriers to Female Retention study and implement the relevant ndings for improving
female retention in their respective Services” (2019).
Unit culture and morale
DACOWITS made nine recommendations on unit culture and morale between 1980 and
2012. Initially, these recommendations focused on urging the Services to reemphasize its
Human Goals principles for all Service members and the morale of women in the military.
In 1982, DACOWITS recommended “each Military Service communicate to all commanders
and commanding ocers the need to create an open and positive climate wherein women
who choose to may establish informal networks and sponsor women’s seminars, to
permit them associations historically enjoyed by their male counterparts.” More recently,
DACOWITS has focused its recommendations on taking “appropriate actions to promote
command climates which ensure human dignity on overseas installations” (1997) and
disseminating the results of the command climate assessments to relevant commanders
and their superiors (2012).
46
Chapter 5. Conclusion
T
he variety of issues pertaining to the support of women in the U.S. military is reected
in the extent of topics covered by DACOWITS recommendations throughout the
past seven decades. DACOWITS continues this work with recommendations in 2019
and 2020 on domestic abuse, conscious and unconscious gender bias, breastfeeding and
lactation support, marketing strategies, and the eect of grooming standards on women’s
health. While this anniversary synopsis does not cover every issue the Committee has
studied during its tenure, it does present an overview of DACOWITS’ impact through a
detailed review of the more than 1,000 recommendations the Committee has made. At the
time of DACOWITS’ inception in 1951, a woman had not yet been promoted to a general
or ag ocer rank; women had yet to be integrated into the MSAs; and female Service
members faced signicant inequalities in their access to combat roles and benets and
experienced gender bias because of the male-dominated military culture of the time. Figure
5.15 shows a selection of milestones, including the implementation of DoD policy, passage
of Federal laws, notable rsts, and key DACOWITS recommendations and activities that
were associated with these critical advancements. Although this gure represents a small
sample of selected events, it demonstrates DACOWITS’ impact on a range of topics over
the years.
As evidenced in this chapter, DACOWITS has been inuential in ensuring the advancement
of women in the military. It has been at the forefront of many emerging issues, notifying
DoD and the public about issues and challenges facing servicewomen and making
recommendations early to ensure issues are addressed as soon as possible. Despite the
vast and critical work accomplished by the Committee to date, DACOWITS’ work is not
nished. Women play an essential role in an evolving military with constantly changing
mission sets. DACOWITS continues to fulll its mission by ensuring women are provided
opportunities to thrive and serve as leaders in all Military Services. DACOWITS’ work
carries on into the next decade as it continues to gather information from DoD, the Military
Services, and Service members to inform its evidence-based recommendations.
47
Figure 5.1. Timeline of Selected Milestones, DoD Policies, Passage of Federal Laws,
Notable Firsts, and Associated DACOWITS Recommendations
Note: Specic references related to these events are cited in earlier chapters of the report.
48
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50
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51
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52
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Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services
