The Institute Of World Politics

This talk occurred on March 27, 2017 at The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: In December 2015, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter declared the opening of all U.S. military combat jobs to women. The decision followed a long and controversial review of the implications of allowing women into combat units, during which the US Marine Corps and large numbers of military personnel objected to a change in policy. The inclusion of women in combat units is in the early stages of implementation; whether the new administration will seek to revise or overturn the policy remains to be seen. Dr. Anna Simons, a veteran of the debate, will discuss the history of the issue of women in combat units. She will explain why that history is relevant to the current situation, and offer her views on the best way forward. About the speaker: Anna Simons is a Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. Prior to teaching at NPS she was both an assistant and then an associate professor of anthropolo