Trump’s pick for defense secretary said women should not be in combat roles. These female veterans are afraid of what will happen next

When Elisa Smithers was deployed to Iraq in 2005, women were prohibited from serving in ground combat operations.

Smithers was a “female searcher” in the National Guard who was attached to an infantry unit to assist in searches for detained Iraqi women, among other duties. But when he returned home, Smithers said, he realized he wasn’t being offered the same support offered to male combat veterans by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Now, the 48-year-old veteran fears the progress made for women in combat since then could be reversed after the president-elect is elected Donald Trump announces Pete Hegseth This week he was named secretary of defense — a Fox News host and army veteran who has been critical of efforts to allow women into combat roles.

Banning women from serving in ground combat units removed in 2013 and in 2016, all U.S. military combat positions were opened to them, allowing women to fill nearly 220,000 jobs previously limited to men, including infantry, armor, reconnaissance and some special operations units. According to 2022 data from the US Department of Defense, women make up approximately 17.5% of the Department of Defense’s active duty force. agency.

Hegseth, who has a long history of service in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq, has not announced any plans to reimpose the ban if approved, but has previously accused the military of lowering standards to allow women into combat jobs.

Hegseth said the following about his book “War Against Warriors” published this year: podcast She was surprised “there hasn’t been more backlash” to the book, “because, frankly, we shouldn’t have women in fighting roles.”

“This didn’t make us more effective, it didn’t make us more lethal, it made the fight more complicated. … We have all ministered with women and they are amazing,” Hegseth said last week on “The Shawn Ryan Show.” “But our institutions don’t necessarily encourage that in places where men in those positions have traditionally been more skilled, not just traditionally throughout human history.”

Smithers said that even if the combat exclusion policy were reintroduced, women like her would be thrust into such roles in an unofficial capacity, but they would not have the less recognition and access to benefits that they had before.

““They’re still going to need these women in these roles,” Smithers told CNN. “So we’ll get back to the issue of nominally attaching them to the unit. And then the men’s perception that women aren’t in combat roles.”

U.S. Army veteran Elizabeth Beggs said women in the military service have already proven they are capable.

“Let’s not get it twisted. “Women have been in struggle since the beginning of history,” Beggs said.

But he agrees with Hegseth on one thing: “Not all women are talented — just like not all men are talented,” Beggs said.

Hegseth diminishes women’s achievements, vets say

More than 2 million female veterans live in the United States, and that number is expected to continue growing, according to the report. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The combat exclusion policy was lifted shortly before Beggs, 27, joined the U.S. Army. During his four years of service, he held a variety of roles, including armor officer, tank commander and platoon leader.

“I believe it is incredibly divisive to dilute and belittle the accomplishments that I and other women have achieved while serving in these roles, not just to women but to men who have gone through the same courses and achieved the same standards. Beggs said this is a time when we need to unite.”

Lory Manning, a 25-year Navy veteran, disputes Hegseth’s accusation that the military is lowering standards to allow women to serve as Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Special Operations and in jobs such as infantry and armor. and artillery units.

In last week’s podcast, Hegseth was particularly critical of women being cast in roles where “the power is what makes the difference.”

“I’m not talking about pilots… I’m talking about physical, labor-intensive work,” Hegseth said. “Seals, Rangers, Green Berets, MARSOC, infantry battalions, armor, artillery.”

Manning, who is also the former director of the Service Women’s Action Network, said Hegseth’s claim that the military has lowered its standards to accommodate women is a false but repeated claim.

“He is sometimes said to protect women who don’t need protection,” Manning said.

Inside A column dated 2013 Manning, on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, denied the claim that “hard combat training standards would be lowered by making them ‘equal’ for both sexes.”

“Women are already integrated into air and sea combat missions without any decline in standards,” Manning wrote.

Although the ban on women participating in ground combat operations was not lifted until 2013, women have been flying in combat operations and serving on US warships since the early 90s.

Like Manning, the veteran Smithers believes a woman should be allowed to serve if she is qualified for the “physical, labor-intensive work” that Hegseth has difficulty undertaking.

“At the end of the day, we need to have diversity so that we can be a dynamic, agile force and a great army. “And that includes the women in our force,” Smithers said. “Diversity always makes us better.”

Concerns about sexual assault culture

Another female veteran, who identified herself as a survivor of military sexual assault and asked that her name not be shared for fear of retaliation, said she was concerned about how Hegseth’s rhetoric as the military’s leader would affect the culture in the armed forces if confirmed. already struggling with problems sexual harassment and assault.

“Anytime a man doesn’t see a woman as an equal, you’re going to see that kind of culture continually deteriorating,” the 46-year-old disabled veteran told CNN. “It will harm the military power”

According to the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, as of 2021, nearly 20% of women serving in the military reported experiencing military sexual trauma during their service, compared to about 1% of men.

According to statistics United Families of Women Veterans of WarIt highlights “the prevalence and impact of gender-specific challenges that female veterans face during and after their time in service.”

In August, Findings from the Senate investigation Suspects of misconduct in the U.S. Coast Guard were released and detailed “systemic sexual assault and harassment, including a culture of silence, retaliation, and unaccountability.” And a 2023 study by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command showed how women face serious discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexism, from their male counterparts.CNN reported.

Purple Heart donor Brandy Cottrill-Cox, who served in combat in 2004 while stationed with the U.S. National Guard on the Kuwait and Iraq border, called Hegseth’s comments “dangerous rhetoric targeting women.”

Cottrill-Cox said she was reported for rape during her second tour in Iraq.

“There is a rape culture that is not being addressed,” Cottrill-Cox said. She said women who have served in the military across the country are accessing resources for the trauma they experienced as a result of being subjected to sexual harassment and assault while in service, much of which goes unreported.

‘This is essentially telling a woman that you are not good enough to serve her’

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran, said Hegseth was “dangerously unqualified.”

Earlier this week, Duckworth wrote about the anniversary of “Live Day.” in xHe remembers the day the Black Hawk helicopter he was piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

As a result, he lost both legs and, according to him, only partially used one of his arms. biography page. He continues to take pride in his service.

“By choosing to put a TV personality with little experience managing much of anything in charge of the Department of Defense’s nearly 3 million military and civilian employees, Donald Trump is once again proving that he cares more about his MAGA base than protecting our nation and our security. “Our troops, our military families and our national security will pay the price for this,” he said.

Wendy Coop, a 45-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, called Hegseth’s comments about women serving in combat roles “a very disturbing and potentially dangerous approach.”

St. Coop, who lives in St. Augustine, Florida, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2001 before entering active duty on a ship doing maintenance work that included painting and working with tools.

Although he did not serve in combat while in the military, Coop said Hegseth showed a “lack of understanding of the military complex” and highlighted the many other military jobs that support those involved in combat (chaplain, nurse, logistics and doctor).

“Her comments open the floodgates to people who say women don’t belong in the military at all, as if we’re too weak, as if we don’t have the personality to do the job,” she said.

She also worries that any reversal of the tide against women serving in combat would have a far-reaching impact on women serving in other government jobs.

“We need to look at the individual and stop saying your gender determines your ability to serve in the military,” Coop said. “Then people say, ‘oh, don’t they belong in the military?’ they say. They also do not belong to the police force. They also don’t belong as firefighters. They don’t belong to the Secret Service.”

The veteran, who did not want to share his name, said the rhetoric about the possible decline of women serving in combat roles was “extremely insulting.”

“This is a slap in the face to a lot of women who have worked so hard to get where they are,” she told CNN. “We served this country with pride, honor and respect.”

“And when someone says women aren’t good enough to fight in combat, that’s essentially saying they aren’t good enough to serve a woman.”

CNN’s Jeff Winter, Cindy Von Quednow and Jade Gordon contributed to this report.

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