Female Soldiers Sue Military Over Combat Restrictions

The U.S. Military was sued on Wednesday by two female soldiers who claim that the military’s restrictions on women in combat violate their constitutional rights.

Army reservists Command Sergeant Major Jane Baldwin and Colonel Ellen Haring claim the armed forces restrictions bar them from assignments “solely on the basis of sex” which is in direct violation of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment rights.

The lawsuit claims:

“This limitation on plaintiffs’ careers restricts their current and future earnings, their potential for promotion and advancement, and their future retirement benefits.”

While the Pentagon in February opened up 14,000 more positions for women in the military they continue to restriction females from infantry duties and armor and special-operations units which serve predominantly on the front lines.

Named in the lawsuit among others is Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Secretary John McHugh.

After learning of the lawsuit Defense Department spokesman George Little told Reuters that Panetta was “strongly committed to examining the expansion of roles for women in the U.S. military, as evidenced by the recent step of opening up thousands of more assignments to women.”

Women now make up 14.5 percent of active-duty military personnel and without serving on the front lines 800 women have been wounded and 130 have been killed during Iraq and Afghanistan fighting.

The lawsuit does bring up one interesting point, the fact that fighting in wars is no longer a “linear” experience with women often engaging in combat even when not part of their assigned roles.

In the meantime Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno announced last week that the Army may consider letting women attend the elite Ranger School.

You can read more about the case filed under Baldwin et al v. Panetta et al in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 12-cv-00832.