U.S. News - front-line

May

2012

3:45am, EDT

Female soldiers sue to lift combat ban 'solely on the basis of sex'

The Pentagon has changed some of its rules. Women will be permitted in crucial and dangerous jobs closer to the front lines. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

By Reuters

WASHINGTON -- Two female soldiers filed suit on Wednesday to scrap the U.S. military's restrictions on women in combat, claiming the policy violated their constitutional rights.

Command Sergeant Major Jane Baldwin and Colonel Ellen Haring, both Army reservists, said policies barring them from assignments "solely on the basis of sex" violated their right to equal protectio under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

"This limitation on plaintiffs' careers restricts their current and future earnings, their potential for promotion and advancement, and their future retirement benefits," the women said in the suit filed in U.S. District Court.

Pentagon's new rules deploy women closer to combat

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Secretary John McHugh are among the defendants. Baldwin is from Tallahassee, Florida, and Haring lives in Bristow, Virginia.

The Pentagon unveiled a new policy in February that opened up 14,000 more positions to women in the military. It still barred them from serving in infantry, armor and special-operations units whose main job is front-line combat.

The Pentagon announces new rules that reflect changes brought on by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. NBC's Chris Clackum reports.

NBC News: Pentagon to open more military jobs to women

Defense Department spokesman George Little declined to comment on the lawsuit. He said Panetta was "strongly committed to examining the expansion of roles for women in the U.S. military, as evidenced by the recent step of opening up thousands of more assignments to women."

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Women make up about 14.5 percent of active-duty military personnel. More than 800 women have been wounded and more than 130 killed in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the lawsuit said.

"The linear battlefield no longer exists," Baldwin and Haring said. They alleged that women are engaged in combat even when it is not part of their assigned roles.

From wannabe housewife to managing $822 billion military budget

Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno said last week the Army was considering letting women attend its elite Ranger School and opening up infantry and armor positions to women.

Report: Growing number of military women see combat, serve in leadership roles

More than 200 women had begun reporting to maneuver battalions and combat teams last week, he said.

The case is Baldwin et al v. Panetta et al in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 12-cv-00832.

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