Inside the Ring

Army violation

A knowledgeable Army source says in a written statement that the Army is violating the Pentagon’s ban on women in land combat.

The source’s two-page statement, a copy of which was provided to us, is a direct challenge to Army Secretary Francis Harvey’s assurances to Congress this week that the service has decided not to change the 1994 ban on women in direct ground combat or in units that routinely embed — or collocate — with such units.

The Army source says the violation is occurring within the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, which will return to Iraq soon. The Fort Stewart, Ga.-based division is the first to be transformed into brigade “units of action.” They are designed as smaller, self-contained brigades that train and deploy as one. The Army refers to this as “modularity.”

The source says that in May, the Army revised the division’s organizational chart that, on paper, assigned a battalion’s Forward Support Company (FSC) to the Brigade Support Battalion (BSB). By attaching the FSC to the BSB, it will be eligible to include female soldiers.

But this, the Army source says, is merely a paper change, because for any FSC to do its job, it must collocate with direct combat units. The Pentagon prohibits such arrangements.

Said the source’s statement, “The administrative change does not change the fact, however, that during any training or any deployment, the FSC works directly for, and is collocated with, the combat battalion. Any other arrangement would complicate the chain of command and degrade expected advantages in the new units of action. Nevertheless, it appears that senior leaders are getting what they wanted. Despite current regulations, females will work directly for, and be collocated with, land combat maneuver battalions.”

Combat soldiers, the source further stated, “are trained to engage in direct combat on land, and the collocation of gender-mixed forward support companies would seriously distract from the mission and possibly cost lives.”

An Army spokeswoman did not respond to a query on whether, in light of Mr. Harvey’s assurance, the FSCs would be all-male.

The Washington Times previously reported on an internal Army document that said if the historically all-male FSCs were kept that way, there would not be enough soldiers to fill out the action support units.

The Army source said that one FSC in the 3rd Division is assigned to the 703rd Forward Support Battalion.

“But during the upcoming deployment to Iraq, it will work directly for, and will collocate with, a tank maneuver battalion. Some of the combined infantry/armor battalions have FSCs that are actually training female soldiers for deployment.”

The source’s identity must be protected so as not to jeopardize a promising career.

“I believe that when Army officials assure you and others that they are operating in compliance with the rules, they are mistaken,” the source said.

Story Continues →