Pentagon moves to allow women to serve on Navy submarines
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The Pentagon has moved to lift a decades-old policy that prohibits women from serving aboard Navy submarines.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress in a letter signed Friday that the Navy intends to repeal the ban on women sailors on subs.
At issue is the end of a policy that kept women from serving aboard the last type of ship off-limits to them. The thinking was that the close quarters aboard subs would make coed service difficult to manage.
Congress has 30 days to weigh in.
A defense official told the Associated Press that numerous physical changes to submarines would have to be made, but that cadets who graduate from the Naval Academy this year could be among the first Navy women to take submarine posts.
Some sailors have argued that having men and women in such close quarters could lead to sexual harassment complaints and other problems. But supporters have fought for the change to open up career opportunities for women.
-- Associated Press