Female Special Operators Now in Combat

Army created a new avenue for women to serve with front-line combat units

Army Special Operations Command has deployed its first teams of female Soldiers assigned to commando units in Afghanistan, and military officials are assessing their initial performance in theater as "off the charts."

In a controversial move early this year, the Army created a new avenue for women to serve with front-line combat units in some of the most specialized and covert missions. The so-called "Cultural Support Teams" are attached to Special Forces and Ranger units to interface with the female population to gain vital intelligence and provide social outreach.

"When I send an [SF team] in to follow up on a Taliban hit … wouldn't it be nice to have access to about 50 percent of that target population -- the women?" said Maj. Gen. Bennet Sacolick, commander of the Army Special Warfare Center and School, which runs the CST program.

So far, nearly 30 of the female CST Soldiers are deployed to the war zone, working in villages and towns that the commandos have cleared.

"They're supposed to be used on secure target areas," Sacolick said. "I don't want them fighting their way to a target."

While the Army has assigned women to front-line units in the past during searches of female civilians and detainees, the move by USASOC formalizes what some advocates have been hoping for in terms of opening up combat arms units to women.

The Soldiers assigned to the Cultural Support Teams aren't required to endure all the training of a Ranger or SF trooper, but they do have to learn advanced weapons handling and even fast-roping. Through three separate nine-day assessments so far, the Special Warfare Center and School has about a 50 percent attrition rate, officials say. Those who make it go through a six-week training course that teaches the Soldiers regional culture, intelligence gathering and small-unit combat tactics, officials say.

"I place less emphasis on the immediate physical standards," Sacolick said. "What I don't compromise on is intellect. I'm looking for smart kids."

Though USASOC will consider female Soldiers -- NCOs and junior officers -- from any MOS, they are especially interested in those from healthcare career fields, including nurse midwife (66G8D), as well as military police and military intelligence, according to the perquisites and requirements detailed on the Army Special Operations Command website.

The Special Warfare Center plans to run its next assessment for CST members in early September, officials say.

Datum: 04. 07. 2011