Should women be allowed to fight on the front lines? Trump's defense pick reignites the debate

Nation

Should women be allowed to fight on the front lines? Trump's defense pick reignites the debate President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

The Associated Press November 18, 2024 at 6:46PMPete Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, arrives at Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Nov. 29, 2016. (SAM HODGSON/The New York Times) WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?

The former Fox News commentator has made it clear, in his own book and in interviews, that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units. If Hegseth is confirmed by the Senate, he could try to end the Pentagon's nearly decade-old practice of making all combat jobs open to women.

''I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective. Hasn't made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated,'' he said in a podcast hosted by Shawn Ryan on Nov. 7. Women have a place in the military, he said, just not in special operations, artillery, infantry and armor units.

Hegseth's remarks generated a barrage of praise and condemnation. And they raised a question:

''Who's going to replace them? Men? And we're having trouble recruiting men into the Army right now,'' said Lory Manning, a retired Navy captain who works with the Service Women's Action Network.

The military services have struggled for years to meet recruiting goals, facing stiff competition from companies that pay more and offer similar or better benefits. And a growing population of young people aren't interested in joining or can't meet the physical, academic and moral requirements.

Removing women from contention for jobs, said Manning, could force the services to lower standards to bring in more men who have not graduated high school, have criminal records or score too low on physical and mental tests.

Lawmakers are divided on Hegseth's views.

The numbers are small, but women have passed the grueling qualification courses to join special operations units. Two are serving as Navy Special Warfare combat crewmen, three in Air Force special operations units and fewer than 10 are Green Berets.

More than 150 women have completed the Army Ranger course, and several hundred more are serving in Army Special Operations Command jobs such as civil affairs, psychological operations and helicopter pilots, including in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

And, more broadly, thousands of women have served or currently are in jobs that until 2015 were male-only, including in Army and Marine Corps artillery, infantry and armor units.

Lowering standards has been a key talking point for Hegseth.

By opening combat slots to women, ''we've changed the standards in putting them there, which means you've changed the capability of that unit,'' Hegseth said in the podcast interview.

Both male and female troops were outspoken since the start of the debate in their opposition to any reduction in standards for the jobs.

Associated Press writer Kristin M. Hall in Adams, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

about the writer LOLITA C. BALDOR The Associated Press