Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is reiterating her desire to open up the Air Force's seven remaining male-only career fields to women, as part of the Women in Service Review plan.
"[Chief of Staff Gen. Mark] Welsh and I are very, very like-minded on this," James said in a March 4 address at the Center for a New American Security. "Our position is that we need gender-neutral, job-relevant standards to be in place. And then these positions need to open. And boy, the burden of proof will be heavy on any recommendation to keep any of these positions closed once we have gender-neutral, job-relevant standards in place. We're very much leaning forward on this, so stay tuned to that."
Those seven jobs — roughly 4,300 positions — represent some of the most highly trained and elite battlefield airmen jobs:
13C special tactics officers: These officers conduct reconnaissance or surveillance of potential airfields and assault zones, and provide air traffic control services for airfields and assault zones.
13D combat rescue officers: These officers deploy into combat areas and are responsible for rescuing and recovering injured service members.
15WXC special operations weather officers and 1W0X2 special operations weather enlisted: These officers and enlisted airmen work with special operations units in combat zones to provide weather information to help execute missions.
1C2 combat control: These enlisted airmen direct air traffic in combat zones while alerting pilots and command to the location of hostile forces on the ground. They sometimes parachute in to hostile areas.
1C4 Tactical Air Control Party: These enlisted specialists call in airstrikes while embedded with Army and Marine units.
1T2 pararescue: These enlisted airmen get to wounded troops in hostile areas, provide emergency trauma, and get the wounded to safety when they can't be immediately recovered by aircraft.
An eighth job, 13L air liaison officers, is technically open to women. But because air liaison officers often work with the male-only Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Brooke Brzozowske, many of those jobs are effectively off limits to women. The Air Force's online database said there are currently two women female air liaison officers, and 173 men in that field.
Brzozowske said Sec. James will send Defense Secretary Ash Carter her recommendations on opening up the remaining male-only jobs. On or about Jan. 1, 2016, the Defense Department will make recommendations to Congress on opening up these jobs, which Congress will then choose to act on or not, Brzozowske said.
The process is more complicated than simply decreeing these jobs are open to women, Brzozowske said. The Air Force also has to figure out how it will recruit for these jobs, how to ensure academy cadets know they are open to women, and set other details.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
