85% of US Special Forces Opposed to Serving With Women

By Paul Ausick Updated Jan 13, 4:27PM EST · Published Dec 4, 12:25PM EST

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85% of US Special Forces Opposed to Serving With Women — © Thinkstock

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that every job in the U.S. armed forces will be open for women to compete for and serve in. “There will be no exceptions,” Carter said.

That is not the same thing as saying that current members of the armed forces have to like the change. In fact, a recent report by the Rand Corporation indicates that liking it is the last thing on many men’s minds:

There is strong, deep seated and intensely felt opposition to opening SOF (special operations forces) specialties that have been closed to women. Overall, 85 percent of survey participants opposed letting women into their specialty, and 71 percent opposed women in their unit.

The Rand study is cited exclusively in an article published at Defense One by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Lemmon noted further that SEALs, Air Force special operations forces and non-commissioned officers “appeared most strongly opposed” to adding women to SOF. The Rand researchers noted that the opposition was based on speculation, not actual experience, because none of the units currently includes women.

On the day of Carter’s announcement, U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, currently the leader of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), released a video to his troops endorsing Carter’s announcement. Votel said:

We need a wide range of exceptional people to be combat effective and to help us address the complex security problems of today’s environment. After weighing and considering the rigorous analysis… I have determined that there is no compelling analytical data that would support an exception of policy for special operations.

General Votel is also a favorite to take over next year as the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the sharp end of the military’s spear in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) and terrorism in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Prior to assuming his current role at SOCOM, he commanded the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that oversees the Army’s Special Forces, Night Stalkers and Navy SEALs.

Now, one could argue that Votel, who has commanded SOCOM for about 15 months and before that had commanded JSOC for more than three years, has had an opportunity to make a difference in the attitudes that prevail in the special forces groups and has failed to do so.
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One could also argue that given his history with the special forces groups, Votel is best-positioned to effect change among America’s most elite fighting forces.

Whether or not Votel gets the CENTCOM job, he has voiced his commitment to the addition of women to special operations forces. Now he has to walk the talk.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.