
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 28, 1993                   TAG: 9304280304
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMEN TO GET AIR COMBAT ROLE

Defense Secretary Les Aspin this week will order the military to drop most of its restrictions on women in aerial and naval combat, senior Pentagon officials said on Tuesday.

Aspin is expected to issue a directive Thursday ordering the armed services to let women fly aircraft in combat. The administration will also ask Congress to repeal the law barring women from serving on many warships. Finally, each service will be directed to justify all remaining jobs that are off-limits to women, including service in ground combat units.

The numbers of women in the newly opened combat roles will be small at first, the officials said, as the services identify and train the most qualified candidates.

Air Force officials said they immediately would begin training about 10 female fighter and bomber pilots, who could be assigned to squadrons as early as February. The Navy is expected to follow quickly to train carrier-based pilots, and a senior Army officer said women could be flying Apache helicopter gunships within a year. The Marine Corps, which has no female aviators, must start from scratch.

Aspin, who favors expanded roles for women in combat, said recently that it could take months to issue a military-wide policy on women. But senior officials later accelerated their review after the Air Force and the Navy appeared to be pursuing conflicting policies.

In addition, Defense Department officials said the White House was eager for the Pentagon to announce its policy this week so that President Clinton could claim it as an accomplishment in the administration's first 100 days.

The decision to open more combat jobs to women could, in some officers' eyes, complicate morale and discipline, the same concerns being voiced about allowing homosexuals to serve openly. But in contrast to the gay issue, probably more senior officers and enlisted personnel support greater opportunities for women.

Since the armed services began integrating women into their ranks 20 years ago, more positions have opened as concerns over abilities and morale faded.

Women still are barred from serving on submarines, aircraft carriers and other combatant ships, or in the infantry, artillery and armored forces.

by CNB