THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406170530
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940617 LENGTH: WASHINGTON
Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III said women should remain barred from artillery and special-operations forces.
{REST} The remarks, in testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, put Peay at odds with Army Secretary Togo West, who is seeking an expanded combat role for women.
Peay emphasized that he was expressing his ``personal opinion,'' not an official Army stance. But his comments provide a glimpse of the views held by top uniformed Army commanders who in private have strongly opposed expanding the role of women in the military.
``Direct ground combat will continue to be most closely associated with the battlefield functions of infantry, armor, artillery, cavalry, combat engineers, forward air defense, special-operations forces aviation and special forces,'' Peay said. These areas, he said, ``should remain closed'' to women.
Peay recalled his own Vietnam War experience as an artillery officer in which gun emplacements ostensibly behind the front lines were frequently overrun by enemy forces.
``The future battlefield will be more expansive and lethal,'' Peay said. ``Distinctions between direct and indirect combat will be blurred. . . . We cannot expect to be able to view warfare as hygienic or clearly defined.''
Defense Secretary William Perry must approve West's proposal and has indicated that any change in policy would be reported to Congress by July 1.
West would allow women to fly special-operations helicopters and serve in units equipped with Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and in certain air defense artillery and combat engineer units.
{KEYWORDS} WOMEN IN THE MILITARY by CNB