Global Policy Forum

By Peter Finn

The German military began to open all jobs, including combat positions, to women today, as 244 female recruits entered boot camps around the country. Their arrival marked the end of policies that had limited women to medical and musical units.

With the change, the 320,000-member armed forces took the first step "on the road to normality," Defense Ministry official Brigitte Schulte said in an interview with DeutschlandRadio. She cautioned that it would take time for the newcomers to rise in the ranks but expressed high expectations about where they may eventually end up. "It will take another 25 or 30 years before they succeed in becoming chief of staff of the air force, navy or German army," Schulte said.

Of today's 244 recruits, 151 joined the army, 76 entered the air force and 17 opted for the navy. All entered programs for enlisted personnel or non-commissioned officers; it was not known how many would go into combat units. The first female officer candidates will begin training in July, and projections show that about 1,000 women will be in the armed forces at the end of the year, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

Although German mythology has its share of female warriors, modern Germany has had a bias against women in arms. Even in the closing days of World War II, when Hitler's army was drafting droves of old men and boys, it did not force women into combat. This view of women's role continued in the postwar military. But today, "one of the last gender-specific professional bans has been lifted," said Rainer Bruederle, of the liberal opposition Free Democrats, according to the Reuters news agency. "I'm only hoping Defense Minister [Rudolf] Scharping won't think about putting women into pink tanks." That joke reflected the fact that the change did not come voluntarily. It was forced on Germany after the European Court of Justice ruled early last year that a provision of the German constitution restricting the military role of women violated European Union rules on sexual discrimination.

The case against Germany was brought to the European Court by Tanja Kreil, an electronics engineer, who tried to enlist for a job in electronics weapons maintenance in 1996 but was turned down because of her sex. "It made me feel like I was living in the Middle Ages," Kreil said when she filed her case. But after her victory, Kreil withdrew her army application this summer without explanation. As a result of the case, Germany altered its constitution to open all jobs in the military to women, including combat-intensive slots in the special forces. However, women will still not be subject to compulsory military service, which 22,000 young men just began.

German rules on female soldiers have been among the most conservative in the NATO alliance, limiting them to about 4,400 medical staff positions and 60 in musical units. There have been many more opportunities for women in the militaries of Britain, France and Denmark, although these countries continue to exclude women from some front-line positions. The court suggested, in fact, that such exclusionary practices could continue in those countries if a case can be made that a woman's sex would hinder her ability to do the job. But the court's ruling is forcing some other EU countries to reexamine their practices. Italy, for instance, is reviewing its far-ranging ban on women in the armed forces, officials said. About 92 percent of career fields in the U.S. military are open to women. Virtually all combat jobs in the Navy and Air Force are open, but the Army still bars women from most combat roles in infantry, artillery and armored units.

To prepare for the change, Germany's military has been conducting sensitivity training in its reportedly reluctant male ranks, cautioning officers against such things as sexual harassment and sexist paternalism. An internal survey conducted last summer found that older soldiers in particular resented the idea of women in uniform. "The way they see themselves as male fighters is shattered," the report said.

Nor has the country as a whole adjusted, at least judging by some of the media coverage. Germany's leading news magazine, Der Spiegel, ran a story on the change this week under the headline "What to do when women cry?" The article dealt with the length of women's hair and whether they should be allowed to wear jewelry while in uniform. None of that affected the first volunteers. "You can help people; you'll be needed a lot and can learn a lot," Silvia Siebenhar, 23, who had worked in a bakery, told the Associated Press. "I'm someone who needs action."

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