By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell and Bradley Devlin | The Daily Signal
The Department of War is discontinuing a committee criticized for pushing feminism in the military, according to a memo obtained by The Daily Signal.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed the memo saying he has determined that the reinstatement of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in the Services should not proceed.
The committee cost the department $1,128,000 in fiscal years 2023-2024. This includes $485,000 in expenses and $643,000 in Defense Department labor.
The committee was originally created following the passage of the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act to advise on strategies to improve the recruitment of women into the U.S. military during the Korean War. But critics say DACOWITS today is largely advancing a feminist agenda with a detrimental effect on combat readiness.
The committee expressed concern for the ability of military women to obtain abortions after the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade, according to a DACOWITS information request in August 2022.
“As the Defense Department continues to examine this Supreme Court decision and evaluate policies to ensure Service members, dependents, beneficiaries, and Defense Department civilian employees are provided seamless access to essential women’s health care services, as permitted by federal law, the Committee is concerned about potential impacts to servicewomen,” the report said.
The 2023-2024 report asks the secretary of defense to “accelerate and expand the availability of telehealth options for Service members to access reproductive health care, family planning, and infertility treatment information and counseling.” Reproductive health care is often a euphemism for abortion.
DACOWITS was disbanded in 2021, but President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin formally reinstated DACOWITS the next year. Hegseth has cancelled the reinstatement.
The undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness will take appropriate action to realign resources associated with the DACOWITS, such as the reassignment of personnel, conclusion of contracts, and the archiving of records, according to the memo.
Hegseth has promised to restore the “warrior ethos inside the military.” He has said that physical standards apply equally to both men and women, and that everyone who serves must be qualified.
“Carrying a rucksack or carrying an artillery round; carrying your buddy across the battlefield- it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman,” he told Fox News’ Lara Trump in July. “You just need to be able to meet the standard.”
First published on The Daily Signal
What People Are Saying
Comments from women:
“As a woman I take heat for saying that if any woman can’t meet the requirements, she shouldn’t have the job. Can’t lower qualifications. Fire fighters, cop, military, etc. Lives are dependent on strength & ability in those jobs.”
“Fully support this. Women shouldn’t have lesser standards than the men. It’s one standard. You either meet it or you don’t. I also don’t support women in battle, behind the lines, where soldiers lives could be in jeopardy. Very few woman could carry a typical man back to safety. Our soldiers need full confidence their team has their back.”
“Excellent! If you can’t do what men do in WAR find another, “Department of War” position to work in. I don’t find this, in anyway “against woman”. I am sure there is a handful of woman that can still do their job, as good as men. But if they can’t, kick them to the curb!”
“GOOD! GET RID OF ALL OF THIS CRAP THAT BELITTLES ONE GROUP IN ORDER TO MAKE ANOTHER FEEL BETTER ABOUT BEING INFERIOR. ESPECIALLY GET RID OF THE CRAP RUN BY LIBERAL WOMEN!! GOOD RIDDANCE!!!!!!!!!”
“All personnel in the military need to be held to the same standards. This will not keep women from serving and advancing in ranks. Women do not need to have it easy. They should be proud to serve and wear the uniform.”
“I never supported DACOWIS when I was active duty. To me, from its inception, it was a waste of time and money.”
“Wow. Not surprising, but, yet, I feel surprised, momentarily. However, if that committee is anything like the Female Air Force Academy Graduate Facebook page, it’s worth changing.”
“My niece is training to be a fighter pilot. She demands to be treated the exact same as the men, no “soft” treatment. She’s also smarter than most men, more driven than most men, and can “out stealth” most men, too. An incredible woman. I fully support women in the military and fully support Hegseth’s decision.”
“This whole thing got out of hand. The military is are war machine. It is what protects our freedoms and our home land. They should be trained to do that and only that. No DEI, no women’s agenda, no friendship circles, finally the insanity is stopping.”
“Sex equity was the precursor to modern-day DEI. It is wrong and should be stopped. Well done!”
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“Let me know if you want a collection of submissions from the original CNA “Women in Combat Arms MOS” study they refused to include. After the first survey didn’t give the results they wanted, they reperformed the survey under closed conditions without open submissions. They never would have approved the change if they’d have included the unfiltered truth: especially the statistics on the massive quantity of females already being injured / risking permanent injury from increased training standards.”
“No more unnecessary division sounds great! Unity is what we need. Not 1000 ways to set ourselves apart.”
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