US Military to Open 6,200 New Jobs to Women

The U.S. military will open on May 11 more than 6,200 new jobs to women in the Army and Marine Corps, but none of those positions include the frontline combat positions that have garnered the most attention since the Pentagon eliminated gender barriers in January.

The Army and Navy have requested making available another 6,265 positions to women, Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote in an April 8 letter to lawmakers, which was first reported by the U.S. Naval Institute.

Those positions include slots in the Army's elite aviation unit that participated in the 2011 raid against Osama bin Laden, but not jobs as infantrymen or special operators that have always been exclusive to men.

"The positions covered by this notification are not positions with a primary mission to engage in direct combat," the letter states.

Frontline combat positions in the Infantry and Special Forces have created the most controversy because of questions about a woman’s strength in hand-to-hand combat.  The positions specified in Wright’s letter include support positions in fields such as logistics, intelligence and health care.

Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in January eliminated the Pentagon rule that prevented women from participating in certain combat units. He also ordered the services to fully integrate women by 2016.

Service leaders are still working on developing plans on how the military could integrate women into positions that typically see the most fighting. These plans will likely include gender-neutral physical standards.

"None of these positions require the development of additional gender-neutral physical standards," she wrote. "These positions will broaden women's opportunities and increase the ability of the Services to assess performance and inform future changes in assignment policy."

Under the changes, women can apply to become a pilot or hold other positions in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the unit that flew Navy SEALs on the mission to kill al-Qaeda leader bin Laden. The Marine Corps will also consider female service members for the position of ground intelligence officer.

Still, more than 230,000 positions in the military remain closed to women and only men are still required to register for the draft under the selective-service law, according to the letter.

"As positions in combat specialties, such as infantry, still remain closed … men and women are not similarly situated for purposes of the Military Selective Services Act.

Details of the specific jobs that will be opened to women can be found below. These jobs were transcribed directly from the letter.

ARMY

The Army will expand the assignment of the below listed currently open occupations to women for company grade and non-commissioned officers (NCO) in nine Army National Guard and eight additional Active Brigade Combat Teams (BCT). This change will open 2,204 positions to women.

The officer occupational specialties opening in the additional BCTs are:
13A Fire Support Officer, Asst Effects Coordinator, S4, or Fire Support Team Chief
25A Battalion S6 (Signal/Communications Officer)
35D Battalion S2 or Assistant Battalion S2 (Intelligence Officer)
42B Battalion S1 (Human Resources Officer)
56A Chaplain
62B Field Surgeon or Medical Platoon Leader
65D Physician’s Assistant
70B Medical Operations Officer
74A Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Nuclear Officer
90A Multifunctional Logistician

The enlisted occupational specialties opening in the additional BCTs are:
25U30 Radio Retransmission Supervisor
25U40 Communications Section Chief
35F30 Intelligence Sergeant
35F40 Intelligence Sergeant
42A30 Human Resources Sergeant
42A40 Senior Human Resources Sergeant
56M20 Chaplain Assistant NCO
68W30 Health Care Sergeant
68W40 Health Care Platoon Sergeant
74D30 Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Nuclear NCO
92Y30 Supply Sergeant
92Y40 Senior Supply Sergeant

The eight additional Active BCTs are:
2d Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division
3d Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division
3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division
1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
2d Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
2d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division
3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

The nine additional Guard BCTs are:
Georgia, Vermont, Arkansas, Oregon, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Louisiana

The Army will open positions to warrant officers and NCOs in eight additional occupational specialties currently open to women in the original nine BCTs reported to Congress in February 2012. This change will open 224 positions to women in the following specialties.

131A Field Artillery Targeting Technician
350F All Source Intelligence Technician
12N30 Engineer Team Leader
13R30 Field Artillery Firefinder
13R40 Field Artillery Firefinder
13T30 Field Artillery Surveyor/Meteorological Crew Member
13Z50 Field Artillery Senior Sergeant
27D20 Paralegal Specialist
29E30 Electronic Warfare Specialist
29E40 Electronic Warfare Specialist

The original nine Active BCTs reported to Congress in February 2012 are:
4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Air Assault Division
2d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
3d Cavalry Regiment
3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
2d Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
2d Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
3d Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Infantry Division

The original nine BCTs will expand the number of women in the units to incude skill level one and two positions in currently open occupational specialties already assigned to the nine BCTs. This expansion will open 2,109 additional positions to women in the following occupational specialities.

25U10 Signal Support Systems Specialist
25U20 Signal Support Systems Specialist
35F10 Intelligence Analyst
35F20 Intelligence Analyst
42A10 Human Resources Specialist
42A20 Human Resources Specialist
68W10 Health Care Specialist
68W20 Health Care Specialist
74D10 Chemical Operations Specialist
74D20 Chemical Operations Specialist
92Y10 Unit Supply Specialist
92Y20 Unit Supply Specialist

The 160th SOAR will assign no more than eight officer/warrant officers and eight enlisted women (16) total in any of the following military occupational specialties within the unit:
15A Aviation General (skill identifier K1, K4, K5, K6)
15B Aviation Combined Arms Operations (skill identifier K1, K4, K5, K6)
152C AH/MH-6 Pilot (skill identifier K1, K4, K5, K6)
153A MH-60 Pilot (skill identifier K1, K4, K5, K6)
154E MH-47 Pilot (skill identifier K1, K4, K5, K6)
15S10 AH-6 Helicopter Repairer (K1)
15S20 AH-6 Helicopter Repairer (Technical Inspector/Team Chief) Crew Chief (K1)
15S30 AH-6 AHelicopter Technical Inspector/Safety NCO/Crew or Sect Chief (K1)
15S40 Aircraft (Quality Control Supervisor/Maintenance Supervisor) Platoon Sergeant (K1)
15T10 MH-60 Helicopter Repairer (K1)
15T20 MH-60 Helicopter Repairer (Technical Inspector/Team Chief)/Crew Chief (K1)
15T30 MH-60 Helicopter Repairer Technical Inspector/Aviation Standardization NCO/Crew Section Chief (K1)
15T40 Aviation Standardization NCO/Platoon Sergeant (K1)
15U10 MH-47 Helicopter Repairer/Flight Engineer (K1)
15U20 MH-47 helicopter Technical Inspector/Flight Engineer (K1)
15U30 MH-47 Technical Inspector/Flight Engineering Standarization NCO/Aviation Life Support NCO/Flight Engineer/Section Chief (K1)
15U40 Aircraft (Quality Control Supervisor/Maintenance Supervisor)/Flight Engineer Standardization/Platoon NCO (K1)

MARINE CORPS

The Marine Corps intends to open the 0203 Ground Intelligence Officer occupational specialty to female Marine Corps officers. This will effectively open 56 additional billets to women.

The Marine Corps intends to open 12 positions in occupational specialties currently open to women for Marine officers and Staff NCOs in each of the three Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies (ANGLICO) to broaden their opportunities and increase their ability to assess the performance of women in these newly opened positions. In total, 36 positions will be opened.

0180 Adjutant (o-3)
0111 Personnel Chief (E-6)
0602 Communication Officer (0-3)
0681 Electronic Key Management System (E-6)
2862 Radio Tech Shop Chief (E-7)
0402 Logistics Officer (O-3)
0491 Logistics Officer (E-7)
3043 Supply Officer (O-3)
3043 Supply Officer (E-6)
0402 Motor Transport Officer (O-2)
3529 Motor Transport Maintenance Chief (E-6)