Despite the Pentagon’s assurances, Hunter wants to write “gender-neutral” into law, in part because he doesn’t want future
military leaders to change course and change the standards, a Hunter aide said.
{mosads}Hunter does not oppose the end of the ban outright, the aide
said, but he is concerned about maintaining the highest-quality military and felt the move was “rushed.”
“There seems to be consensus that standards need to stay
neutral,” Hunter said in a statement. “It’s about the individual and the job
they train to do and especially for combat specialties, it’s important that we
continue maintaining high quality standards across the board.”
Hunter isn’t the only Republican looking at weighing in on
the Pentagon’s move to end the women-in-combat ban.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate
Armed Services Committee, is eyeing a different tack than Hunter. Inhofe said last
week when the ban was rescinded that he would consider legislation to block changes
the Pentagon makes that were “detrimental to our fighting
forces and their capabilities.”
“I suspect there will be cases where legislation becomes
necessary,” Inhofe said.
Hunter is looking at adding the gender-neutral provisions to
this year’s Defense authorization bill, although he hasn’t ruled out a
standalone bill if the idea attracts bipartisan support, the aide said.
The military services have until 2016 to determine any occupations
or units they believe women should continue to be excluded from. The services
will present their plans to the Defense secretary by mid-May to begin opening
up new positions to women.