Four U.S. female soldiers have filed a lawsuit challenging the Defense Department's longstanding policy barring women from thousands of ground combat positions, known as the "combat exclusion policy."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP are representing four servicewomen and the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), a New York-based non-profit organization, in the lawsuit filed in a federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday.
The lawsuit, which names Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as the defendant, argues that the policy is unconstitutional.
The unprecedented legal action questioning the Pentagon policy that women can serve in frontline positions in the U.S. military, but are barred from ground combat units, was launched on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The plaintiffs have all done tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, including two who won Purple Hearts in Afghanistan.
One plaintiff, Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar, is an Air National Guard search and rescue helicopter pilot who flew Medevac missions in Afghanistan. In 2009, her helicopter was shot down while rescuing three injured soldiers near Kandahar airfield, and she and her crew were forced to engage in combat. Hegar, who returned fire after sustaining shrapnel wounds, was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, and was returned to flying status within a week. Despite that, the combat exclusion policy prevents her from seeking some combat leadership positions.
Major Hegar served three tours over two deployments to Afghanistan, and trained as a California Air National Guard Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) pilot after serving five years in the Air Force.
"I believe my country will recognize the need to update an antiquated policy that only serves to limit the pool of applicants who want to rise to answer our nation's call by serving in our military's most demanding jobs," Hegar wrote in an article posted on ACLU website. "This policy is an injustice to the women who have come before us and who continue to put their lives on the line for their country," she added.
Marine Capt. Zoe Bedell served in Afghanistan as the officer in charge of a Female Engagement Team (FET). Her teams lived with infantrymen for several weeks and frequently encountered combat situations.
Army Staff Sgt. Jennifer Hunt served in Afghanistan, where she went with soldiers on combat missions in remote mountain areas, and in Iraq, where her vehicle was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). Hunt was awarded the Purple Heart for shrapnel injuries sustained in that attack.
Marine 1st Lt. Colleen Farrell led an FET in Afghanistan, which was regularly in danger of drawing enemy fire, being ambushed or hit by IEDs. Although the teams she commanded lived and worked alongside infantrymen, they were prevented from fully participating in training with those troops.
Women make up more than 14 percent of the 1.4 million active military personnel, yet the rule categorically excludes them from more than 200,000 positions, as well as from entire career fields, ACLU said in a press release. Consequently, commanders are stymied in their ability to mobilize their troops effectively.
The lawsuit says servicewomen are denied training and recognition for their service, put at a disadvantage for promotions, and prevented from competing for positions for which they have demonstrated their suitability and from advancing in rank.
Addressing a press conference along with the plaintiffs, SWAN Executive Director Anu Bhagwati said because of the combat exclusion policy, smart American women who have enormous military leadership potential often make the choice not to enlist because they know they will not be "treated fairly in uniform."
In over two centuries of existence, the U.S. military has only promoted two women to the rank of four-star General, the highest rank in defense service, she noted.
Bhagwati, a former Marine Captain, called for "opening all assignments to qualified women," adding that "breaking the 'brass ceiling' will help transform this culture and bring about the change that our military desperately needs in order to be a truly professional force in the 21st century."
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