Boeing Executive Resigns Over 1987 Op-Ed Opposing Women in Combat

The head of communications at Boeing has resigned his post after an employee complained about a 33-year-old article he wrote arguing against putting women in combat roles in the military.

Niel Golightly penned the op-ed when he was a 29-year-old lieutenant in the U. S. Navy. It appeared in a magazine published by the U.S. Naval Institute, an outfit which describes itself as “an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

“At issue is not whether women can fire M-60s, dogfight MiGs, or drive tanks. Introducing women into combat would destroy the exclusively male intangibles of war fighting and the feminine images of what men fight for—peace, home, family,” Golightly wrote, according to an excerpt published on the U. S. Naval Institute’s website.

Women were barred from combat roles throughout American history, including the first term of Barack Obama’s presidency, until the policy was changed in 2013. In 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that... (Read more)

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