THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994                TAG: 9410070620
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

ARMY, MARINES MOVING SLOWLY IN OPENING ROLES FOR WOMEN

The Army and Marine Corps, services that bear the brunt of ground combat, are taking a cautious approach in expanding the roles of women.

The Marines plan to take two decades to expand the number of women in the corps from 7,713 to 10,493. And a third of all Army duty positions will remain restricted to men only. While the Clinton administration pushes to open as many military jobs to women as possible, top officers appear more worried about whether the policy is weakening the force.

``You may ask, `Has the Marine Corps gone too far? Have we reduced combat capability and readiness in order to allow more opportunity for women?'' Lt. Gen. George R. Christmas told the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee on Thursday.

``It's too soon to tell, but in our best judgment, we believe the answer to both questions is no,'' Christmas said.

Both the Army and Marines will continue to exclude women from direct ground-combat roles.

``This means that armor, infantry, Ranger, special forces and field artillery battalions remain closed in the Army,'' said Edwin Dorn, President Clinton's undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. ``In the Marine Corps, the infantry regiment and its associated elements remain closed.''

Christmas, who wears the Navy Cross for his role in the Battle of Hue City during the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, said women could help remove wounded from a battle scene and perform other strenuous, front-line tasks.

But he said, ``Our direct ground combat units, those that `locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver and shock effect,' remain closed. We consider this imperative.'' He added that the Marines are concerned with their ability to recruit quality women, and the impact pregnancy on deployment. Policy changes have opened 43,000 new positions to women in the Marine Corps, including fixed- and rotary-wing pilot positions in units that could be called into battle. Still, it will take two decades for the number of women in the Marines to grow to about 6 percent of the total corps, Christmas said.

KEYWORDS: WOMEN IN THE MILITARY by CNB