Flawed as it is, there are two policy matters that emanate from DGC that have an impact on military women and where (and how) they may be assigned. The first, the ground combat exclusion rule, dictates that women may not occupy any assignment (in any capacity) to a unit below brigade level which has the primary mission of engaging in DGC. This restriction allows the Army and the Marine Corps to retain their existing policies excluding women from serving in Infantry and Armor, with the Marines also excluding women totally from Field Artillery. The Army excluded women from serving in Special Forces (including aviation) and women may not serve as Navy Seals. Interestingly, the Army did not exclude women from Field Artillery using this rule as did the Marine Corps. Another anomaly is that women are not serving on submarines but that exclusion is not based on either combat or collocation. Elimination of the ground combat exclusion rule would automatically eliminate the collocation policy.

*1994, DoD has defined DGC as:

“…engaging the enemy on the ground with individual or crew served weapons, while being exposed to hostile fire and to a high probability of direct physical contact with the hostile force’s personnel. [It] takes place well forward on the battlefield while locating and closing with the enemy to defeat them by fire, maneuver, or shock effect.” [Emphasis added