Mattis: ‘The jury is out’ on women making it in combat jobs

WASHINGTON — The jury is still out on whether women can be successful in infantry jobs, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday, while offering students at the Virginia Military Institute a dim view of female troops serving on the front line

Mattis, a retired Marine, said there are too few women in the infantry ranks to provide enough data to determine how they’re doing. And he said he has asked Army and Marine leaders for information to determine if having women in a “closequarters fight” is a strength or a weakness.

“There are a few stalwart young ladies who are charging into this, but they are too few,” Mattis said during a visit to VMI in Lexington, Va. “Clearly the jury is out on it, but what we’re trying to do is give it every opportunity to suc- Mattis ceed if it can.”

He said he hopes to get data from the Army and Marine Corps soon.

In early 2013, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opened the door to women serving in combat jobs. The military services studied the issue, and in their final recommendations only the Marine Corp leaders argued for an exception so they could keep certain infantry and ground combat jobs open only to men. In December 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered all combat posts be opened to women.

Responding to a question from a male student, who described some of his female classmates as fierce, Mattis said the issue must be resolved by military officers who are objective and understand that the natural inclination is to have service open to all. But, he added, “we cannot do something that militarily doesn’t make sense.”

Mattis likened the issue to having someone break into your house and having to decide “who grabs the baseball bat” to protect the children and “who reaches for the phone to call 911.” He didn’t offer suggestions on what the answer would be.

The Army and Marine Corps have acknowledged that the number of women seeking infantry jobs will probably be small.

As of late August, there were 26 female enlisted Marines in the infantry and one female officer, accord- ing to the Marine Corps. The number of women in Marine combat units has grown steadily, from 254 last year to 382 this year — a 50 percent increase.

The Army has also seen an increase in women in combat units. There are 51 female infantry officers and 253 women in the enlisted ranks of the infantry, the Army said. Another. 51 women are serving in the officer and enlisted ranks in the Army Reserve. In addition, 17 women have passed the Army’s Ranger course.