June 1991
Current law forbids the assignment of women to military combat roles in the Air Force, Navy and Marines. Women, of course, can volunteer for those services, but they are excluded – or protected – (whichever language you prefer) from the most dangerous of the military assignments. An attempt was made in 1979 during the Carter Administration to repeal the combat exclusion laws. Hearings were held by the House Military Personnel Subcommittee, after which the proposal quietly died and never came to a vote.
