SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Her Most Impossible Mission Yet

The newest addition to the local-woman-makes-good category is San Diegan Rosemary Mariner, who, at 37, is about to become the first female to command a Navy aviation squadron. Cmdr. Mariner’s achievement should be an occasion for unreserved congratulations and acknowledgement of another step in the progress of feminism.

But one cannot take note of Mariner’s accomplishment without also recognizing that an anachronistic federal law prevents Mariner from leading that squadron in defense of her country. The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 prohibits the Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps from assigning women to duty on “vessels or aircraft that are engaged in combat missions.”

Mariner (call sign: Saber) has logged more than 3,300 military flight hours in 15 different types of aircraft. She will take command next month of a 300-member Tactical Electronic Warfare squadron at the Naval Air Station in Point Mugu, providing simulated hostile electronic warfare for Atlantic and Pacific Fleet training exercises.

Conditions for women in the military are much improved from 1973, when Mariner was one of the first eight women to attend Navy flight school. Women now compose 10% of the Navy’s force, up from 2% in 1972. That year, women could hold 22 of the 70 Navy job classifications. This year, they are eligible for 88 of 102.

Women guard bases from Okinawa to West Germany. They were fired upon while flying troops to battle aboard helicopters during the Panama invasion. More well-known is Army Capt. Linda Bray’s role in leading a Military Police company in an assault on a Panamanian Defense Forces canine unit barracks.

But Congress still has not legitimized women’s combat role, perhaps swayed by the fear of female wartime casualties or the specious contention that women lack the strength for battle. A bill that would have allowed women in the Army to participate in all military activities during a trial period is effectively dead for this session of Congress.

Mariner is convinced that manpower shortages forecast for the 1990s mean it is only a matter of time before women are allowed into combat.

“When I hit a wall, I am going to get under it, over it or around it,” Mariner said in explaining her climb through the Navy ranks. “Put a wall in front of me, and my reaction is to knock it down.”

We’ll cheer loudest when Mariner scales this barrier, or, better yet, when it comes tumbling down.