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Anonymous ID: ada0cf June 25, 2021, 1:31 a.m. No.13978603   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8619

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/06/24/dod-quietly-calls-shutdown-of-70-year-old-committee-women-military.html

 

Military News

''DoD Quietly Calls for Shutdown of 70-Year-Old Committee on Women in the Military''

 

24 Jun 2021

Military.com | By Hope Hodge Seck

 

In January of this year, the Pentagon quietly demanded the resignations of the 21 volunteer members of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, a roster that included eight retired generals and admirals.

The ink was barely dry on the committee's 70-year historical review, a 58-page document that described how DACOWITS had advocated on behalf of military women since 1951 on issues ranging from their right to fly fighter jets and serve in combat to the fit of body armor and online harassment.

 

The committee's hollowing out was part of a sweeping move by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to dissolve all 42 DoD advisory committees pending a cost and efficiency review.

The Defense Business Board, which had been populated with those loyal to Donald Trump in the final throes of his presidency, got the most attention in this move.

 

But DACOWITS, which had been wrestling with timely issues such as the effect on women of the new gender-neutral Army Combat Fitness Test, was an unseen casualty.

While no decision has been made yet on how and when to bring back the vacated advisory committees, an April memo obtained by Military.com shows that the Defense Department's Manpower and Reserve Affairs office has recommended not bringing back DACOWITS in its current form.

''Rather, it wants to merge the historic committee with another yet-to-be-launched group to create a broader Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that would address everything from military extremism and opportunities for minority service members to ill-fitting uniforms and availability of child care.''

 

But those affiliated with DACOWITS fear bundling such a wide range of issues under a single advisory entity would make it very difficult to get meaningful work done – and would shove women-specific military issues, such as hair regulations and anatomy-appropriate flight suits, far to the sidelines.