WASHINGTON, March 6, 2002 –- The 51-year-old Defense
Advisory Committee on Women in the Services has a new
charter that reflects changed times, a senior DoD official
said.
Charles S. Abell, assistant secretary of defense for force
management policy, said DACOWITS would continue to provide
the secretary of defense with advice and counsel "on those
issues that are important to the professional opportunities
of women and to help us recruit and retain a great force."
However, he said, senior DoD officials reviewing the
department's advisory bodies decided to refocus DACOWITS
"to address the needs of the department in the 21st
century." He said the committee's new agenda includes
specifically looking at family issues and examining their
impact on retention and recruitment.
When Defense Secretary George C. Marshall established
DACOWITS in 1951, Abell noted, military women's career
paths were limited mostly to nursing and administrative
fields and few senior billets were open to them.
Today, he said, military women fly combat aircraft, serve
in leadership positions aboard aircraft carriers and other
naval vessels, support combat land operations, and hold
three-star rank in every service.
Primary changes to the DACOWITS agenda include:
An expanded charter that calls for study of family
quality-of-life issues and their effects on recruiting and
retention.
Committee members must have military experience or
be past or present military family members.
DACOWITS' mandatory semiannual conference
requirement is removed. While the committee will continue
to convene at least twice a year, it may meet more often if
necessary.
Additionally, Abell noted, the committee could grow, but to
no more than 35 members. Some of DACOWITS' current 22
members may be selected to serve on the new, larger
committee if eligible, he added.
The new committee, Abell noted, will examine issues such as
professional opportunities for all service members; quality
health care; pregnancy and parenthood; single parents;
child care and development; the effects of frequent family
separations because of military duty; and military pay,
housing and cost-of-living allowances.
"It's still important to retain a look at the ability of
the services to provide opportunities for women," Abell
emphasized. However, he added, military families "have
grown in significance and its time to add that to the arena
of things that merit our consideration.
"And that's what we're going to ask DACOWITS to help us
with," he concluded.
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