From the Navy Times' SECNAV: All Navy jobs should be open to women:
The Navy Department's top civilian said he believes every community should be open to women, including attack submarine crews and -- if they can qualify -- SEAL teams.But although he's against any gender ban in the service, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of integrating women into every part of the naval special warfare community.
"It's my notion that women should have the same opportunities as men in the Navy," Mabus told Navy Times during a March 31 interview. "They should be able to go as far as their talents take them. They should be able to serve in whatever communities.
"The only reason I'm being a little hesitant for the SEALs is some of the physical things you've got to go through to be a SEAL. I think women ought to have whatever opportunities men do," he said.
The military services keep talking more and more about diversity, but name me the non-profits -- the equivalents to the SLDN, Servicemembers United, or GetEqual, for example -- that are pushing federal legislators opening up all service communities to women.
Don't anyone hold one's breath on women being allowed into all jobs in the military anytime soon -- federal legislators aren't feeling pressure to open up all military communities to women.