Ann Dunwoody, First Female Four-Star General
Nov 19th, 2008 by admin
Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody broke through [an important glass ceiling] last week, becoming the military’s first female four-star general. But groups representing women in national security roles want the obstacle to shatter completely.
“Gen. Dunwoody’s promotion is the major advance we’ve been waiting for for 10 years,” said Lory Manning, director of the Women’s Research and Education Institute’s Women in the Military Project.
Women make up about 21 percent of the senior civilian ranks of the Pentagon and about 14 percent of the uniformed military.
…Still, Dunwoody is not in line for a promotion to the highest ranks of the military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because she has never commanded a combat unit. The Army and the Marines bar women from serving in direct-combat infantry or armored units.
Officers in the Navy and Air Force may have a better chance, Manning said, because those services have allowed women in some combat roles since the mid-1990s. “The time is not long before we’ll not just see women in a four-star role, but one where she has responsibility for combat troops,” she said.
But groups for women in the military aren’t waiting. They’re putting together position papers for Obama’s transition team on how well women have performed and urging him to take a look at the positions closed to women.
The policy doesn’t make much sense now, women’s groups say, because the front lines in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are ambiguous.
They cite a 2007 Rand Corp. study that pointed out that, although the Army is trying to comply with its policies restricting women from combat, the definitions of combat are blurring.
The Center for Military Readiness, however, denounced the Rand study, saying it “creates needless confusion” and argues that restrictions against women serving in combat should be strengthened. Opening combat roles to women, the center said in a paper, threatens lives because women lack the physical strength to aid men in combat.
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In a survey that year, 98 percent of men and 97 percent of women believed the most appropriate role for women in the military was as a cook, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey.
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After Dunwoody’s 33 years of service, Gates, along with Central Command’s Gen. David Petraeus and past and present members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were ready to welcome Dunwoody into an exclusive club. At the end of September, just 37 four-star generals and admirals were on active duty.
But in a military that’s still less than one-fifth female, women made up close to half of those on hand for Dunwoody’s promotion. Their excitement was palpable.
Amid all the tributes, a Pentagon policewoman, her hair tied back in a bun, wiped tears from her cheek and snapped pictures of Dunwoody with her cell phone.
