Female NATO Officers Press for Wider Combat Roles

Female officers in the armed forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Thursday that they are pressing for wider combat roles for women in the services.

At the close of a three-day meeting here of the Committee on Women in NATO Forces, the chairwoman, British Air Commodore Ruth Montague, said the performance of women in the Persian Gulf War had shown their worth.

Further, she said, by widening women’s role in combat, better use could be made of all personnel.

“Women performed well in the Gulf,” Montague said. “They performed well under pressure; they performed as part of a team; they got on with the job.

“They confirmed in their male colleagues’ minds that they could do their jobs--and in the civilian mind that they could perform in all sorts of scenarios.”

Montague’s views were backed up by U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Patricia Hickerson, who said: “We were very pleased by the performance of our women soldiers--as battalion and company commanders and in other ranks--who did every job they were expected to do in their combat-support roles.”

Five of the 16 NATO nations sent women to the Gulf combat zone--the United States, Britain, Canada, Norway and Denmark. While none of the women were attached to infantry fighting units, many found themselves under fire.

By far the biggest Gulf contingent was the American, with 40,000 women in the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines--out of the overall U.S. female service force of 230,000.

Britain sent 300 of its 19,000 servicewomen, while Canada contributed 240 of its 8,900 women.

Commandant Jane Titley of the British navy nursing corps said the distinction between combat and noncombat roles for women will be increasingly blurred.

“If you are assigned to a ship in a combat zone, you can’t really define the difference,” she said. “Even in the army, it is difficult to define where the front line is--and particularly will be in the future.”

Of the NATO nations, only Iceland and Italy have no female service personnel. Legislation is pending in Italy to permit female volunteers in the armed forces.

Air Commodore Montague said that despite declining numbers of service personnel in NATO because of the end of the Cold War, the percentage of women in the various forces has remained stable or even increased. “We want to strive to keep that percentage stable,” she added.

During their meeting, the delegates disclosed that they will invite female members of the former East Bloc armed forces to discuss with NATO their role in their military.