Women In Uniform

As the Senate prepares to debate lifting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” it’s instructive to read a hat-trick of stories this morning about another group of service personnel not always treated fairly. There’s a story reporting that women will begin serving aboard submarines by January 2012. There’s another on how family-friendly the Navy’s Tailhook convention has become. You may recall its 1991 drunkfest in Las Vegas led dozens of women to complain that they had been sexually assaulted and harassed by naval aviators. Then there’s this fascinating peek at what female Marines are doing on the frontest of front lines in southern Afghanistan. Semper Fi-male?