As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, on February 22, Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered a letter to Congress, notifying it of the Navy’s desire to permit women to serve aboard its submarines.
The House and Senate had 30 working days to pass a law barring the move.
The deadline for Congress to object passed at midnight and the Navy has called a news conference for this morning when it is expected to make an announcement on this issue.
It is widely reported that the Navy will discuss how it plans to implement the new policy:
“There are extremely capable women in the Navy who have the talent and desire to succeed in the submarine force,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said hours after the congressional deadline passed. “Enabling them to serve in the submarine community is best for the submarine force and our Navy.
“We literally could not run the Navy without women today,” Mabus said in a statement released by the Submarine Force headquarters in Norfolk, Va.
We’ll keep you posted on this development considered by some to be the fall of another barrier keeping women from achieving full equality and by others as a potential disaster for our submariners’ mission.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.