Special Forces
2015 outlook: SEALs to unveil decision on women's
roles
By Meghann Myers, Staff Writer11:44 a.m. EST December 27, 2014
(Photo: U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Corey T. Jones)
Special warfare is the only Navy branch
closed to women, but 2015 is the year in which officials hammer out whether
they'll integrate female sailors into the elite SEAL and Special Warfare
Combatant Crewman communities.
U.S. Special Operations Command and
Naval Special Warfare each completed integration studies in mid-2014, then met
with the Defense Department in the fall to compare notes.
The Defense Department is on track to
announce whether officials will open the SEAL and SWCC ranks to women — and if
so, to what degree — in Jan. 2016, DoD spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen
confirmed to Navy Times.
"Each service and SOCOM has
identified decision points by which they will make final recommendations to the
secretary of defense to open positions or to request an exception to policy to
keep positions or occupations closed," Christensen said. "Exceptions
to policy must be personally approved first by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff and then by the secretary of defense."
If DoD decides to open NSW to women, the
Navy's plan is to notify Congress by July 1. Congress would then have 30
working days to respond with any concerns.
Once the notification period is over,
the Navy plans to begin selecting potential female SEALs and SWCCs from boot
camp and officer candidate school in the fall. By next January, the pipeline
would open, allowing enlisted women to attend Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
or SWCC training in March, with officers following in June.
The Navy doesn't have any plans for any
test classes with women at BUD/S, a Navy official told Navy Times in October.
The Army conducted a dry-run to see if
women could graduate its elite Ranger School, selecting about 30 female enlisted
and officers to serve as observers in a week of training last November.
The Navy, however,
plans to hold off on opening BUD/S to women until the ban is officially lifted,
said Cmdr. Renee Squier, head of the Navy's Diversity, Inclusion and Policy
office.
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