WASHINGTON – An influential group of female military officers and congresswomen have sent a formal letter of protest to the Defense Department over its plan to open up administration-related jobs to males, saying the move will "dangerously degrade" the military's ability to process paperwork and other claims.
The letter, drafted by veteran lawmakers Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and labelled "Don't Dick Up Our Paperwork!" states, "We are concerned over the Pentagon's plans, in the name of political correctness, to burden its already-overstretched female clerical personnel with thousands of untrained and unqualified men."
The two have joined a growing chorus of active duty and retired females who are demanding the Pentagon exempt female administrative specialists from any required gender integration plans and have already forced Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to walk back earlier plans to immediately open up the administration field.
Over the past two years under what has become known as the "Dempsey Rule" the U.S. military has been directed to abolish all gender-restrictions and prohibitions on its military occupation specialties. While the decision mostly affected women in combat billets, a lesser-known change was that men are now being allowed into previously all-female administration roles.
