Judith Youngman, 1997 Chair of the Defense Advisory
Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), has announced the
selection of the 1997 Executive Committee. The selections are
effective January 1, 1997.
Selected from existing members, the Executive Committee is
composed of the Chair, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee at
large, and, Chairs and Vice Chairs of three subcommittees
(Equality Management, Quality of Life, and, Forces Development
and Utilization).
The Executive Committee members for 1997 are: Judith
Youngman, who holds a doctor of philosophy in government, from
New London, Conn., DACOWITS chair; Sheila McNeill of St. Marys,
Ga., DACOWITS vice chair; former state representative, honorable
Carol Maicki from Black Hawk, S.D. chair, equality management;
Ginger Simpson of Apopka, Fla., vice chair, equality management;
Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, Ph.D., higher education, of Logan, Utah,
chair, quality of life; Sue Straughn from Pensacola, Fla., vice
chair, quality of life; Jill Docking from Wichita, Kan., chair,
forces development and utilization; and Liz Alexander of Tucson,
Ariz., vice chair, forces development and utilization.
The Executive Committee performs a variety of duties during
the semiannual conferences and during quarterly Executive
Committee meetings. Duties include reviewing issues and interim
issues, assigning new agenda items to appropriate subcommittees
for introduction to the full committee, reviewing service
responses to recommendations, and approving the rationale for
recommendations. Additionally, they approve Requests for
Information and Continuing Concerns as well as review issues
provided by subcommittees to ensure that the intent is clear and
adequately reflected in proper format before forwarding to the
full committee.
Membership on DACOWITS includes prominent civilian women and
men from throughout the United States representing academia,
industry, public service and other professions. Members are
appointed by the Secretary of Defense for a three-year term, and
serve without compensation. The committee was founded in 1951 by
Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall during the Korean War to
assist DoD in the recruitment and retention of servicewomen. In
the ensuing 45 years, the committee has provided useful advice to
the Secretary of Defense on policies relating to the effective
utilization of women in the services.
