WASHINGTON — Seven in 10 Americans support permitting women in the military to serve in ground units that engage in close combat, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The findings come as the Pentagon prepares to review whether women should continue to be barred from combat units even though many of them often engage opposing forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Overall, 73 percent of respondents support giving women direct combat roles, and 25 percent oppose the move.
Seventy-three percent of women and 72 percent of men favor extending formal combat roles to women, as do 80 percent of self-described Democrats, 62 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of independents.
Women account for 14.5 percent of active-duty service members (203,000 of about 1.4 million) and 18 percent of National Guard and reserve forces, according to the Pentagon. About 25,000 women are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, accounting for about 10 percent of U.S. forces there.
Since 1994, the Pentagon has barred women from serving in any unit below the brigade level (about 4,000 troops on average) whose primary mission is direct ground combat. But it allows women to serve in units that might engage in combat-related action.
“The nature of today’s conflicts is evolving; there are no front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said in an e-mail.
Last week, a congressionally mandated commission recommended that the Pentagon end the ban in order “to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.” The Military Leadership Diversity Commission issued 20 recommendations designed to prepare a higher percentage of women and minorities to serve in top military leadership positions.
Verna Jones, director of veterans affairs for the American Legion, said a policy change would help female vets gain quicker access to medical and mental-health benefits related to combat experiences. Women often have difficulty proving combat experience because they lack formal combat assignments, she said.
The telephone poll of 1,005 adults was conducted March 10-13. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
