Capt. Tara Robertson, the commander of the Minnesota National Guard's 849th Mobility Augmentation Company, patrols in Afghanistan.

Capt. Tara Robertson, the commander of the Minnesota National Guard's 849th Mobility Augmentation Company, patrols in Afghanistan. Minnesota National Guard

The ‘Brass Ceiling’ Is Still Alive and Well in the US Military

A key lawsuit that fights for women in combat is still moving through the courts. By Greg Jacob

As a Marine Corps veteran, the month of November carries a great deal of significance for me. Nov. 10 is the celebration of the Marine Corps birthday. Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, of course. And Nov. 14 marks the day I stepped off the bus and onto the iconic yellow footprints at Parris Island in 1994. It was my first day of boot camp and the beginning of my journey as a United States Marine.

I served in the Marines for a decade. I enlisted as a private and left military service as a captain. I deployed both on ship and on shore, on humanitarian missions and in combat. But when I reflect on my service there is one duty assignment I treasure the most. It is a job that among the ranks of the elite Marine infantry only a handful have been fortunate enough to experience:  I got to command both men and women in a gender-integrated infantry training unit.

Working with women might not sound like that big of a deal, but in the Marines it is. The U.S. military is the largest employer in the nation to have institutionalized gender discrimination through policies that deny women the opportunity to compete for jobs that they are otherwise qualified for.

In my experience, the women I commanded performed as well or better than their male counterparts when given the opportunity. And, despite what many think, they were held to the same standards as the men. When I took command I, too, was skeptical that women could meet such a challenge, an attitude I developed after being steeped for years in the Marines' male-only infantry culture. But once I saw firsthand that women could accomplish infantry tasks without needing lower standards to succeed, I was convinced.

Any lingering doubts I may have had about women serving in combat jobs were completely erased during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of service women were deployed. They fought, were wounded, and many died right alongside the men. During the war, women were also decorated with some of the highest awards for personal valor.

The wars provided 12 years worth of evidence that women can successfully meet combat arms standards and accomplish missions on the battlefield. Yet in spite of this, today service women still have to prove their worth day in and day out while fighting another battle in their own ranks, a battle against gender discrimination.

In 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union joined in this fight by suing the Department of Defense for their discriminatory combat exclusion policy in the Hegar v. Hagel case. Four military women, along with the Service Women's Action Network, joined the suit as plaintiffs. These remarkable women had completed arduous combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan performing the same tasks, taking the same risks, and making the same sacrifices as their male counterparts. But when they returned to the states, they found themselves unfairly barred from doing the same jobs they had successfully done during wartime.

Thanks in part to pressure from our lawsuit, last year then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially rescinded the remaining policies that had kept women relegated to the role of second-class soldier. He directed the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to fully integrate women by January 2016. But even with these marching orders, none of the services have completely rolled back their “brass ceiling” under the new Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel.

Integration is happening to varying degrees, but it has become apparent that some of the services are moving at a pace that appears too slow to make their deadline. Because of this, Hegar v. Hagel continues to be litigated in federal court. We are scheduled to appear in court for another update hearing this week and the Pentagon will have to explain to the judge why it's taking so long to remove gender-based barriers to service.

In recognition of our service women's ongoing battle, it is not enough to simply thank a veteran for her service and go on your merry way. Instead, we must demand that our military fully and fairly integrate women into every occupation, including jobs in the infantry. Through dedication and sacrifice, women have earned their place alongside their male counterparts, and it is an outrage that the military refuses to recognize this.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military opened the doors for women to serve in combat arms jobs out of necessity -- and women answered the call. Now that service women have successfully returned from the fight, we must not allow the military to keep slamming those doors in their faces. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.