Hegseth ends DACOWITS, citing divisive agenda

WASHINGTON — The Department of War announced Tuesday that Secretary Pete Hegseth has terminated the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), a civilian advisory group that has offered recommendations on policies affecting women in the U.S. Armed Forces since the mid-20th century. Department of War press secretary Kingsley Wilson said on X that the panel was “divisive,” and that Hegseth would pursue uniform, sex-neutral standards across the department. Wilson added that the department views the committee’s recent emphasis as at odds with broader readiness goals.

DACOWITS was established in 1951 to advise the Secretary of War on issues related to recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being and treatment of service women. The panel gathers data through briefings, written responses, expert input, and direct interactions with service members during installation visits. The group’s work has coincided with a steady, if uneven, movement toward greater gender integration in the ranks. The defense department’s 2023 demographics report noted that women account for about 17.7% of all military personnel and called for a series of policy reviews, including steps toward fully integrating recruit training in the Marine Corps, exploring mixed-gender drill-instructor teams, adopting gender- and race-sensitive body composition standards, and reviewing a decade of promotion data by gender and race.

Since its inception, DACOWITS has described itself as one of the oldest War Department advisory bodies and has said its recommendations have historically been instrumental in shaping laws and policies pertaining to military women. In its public materials, the panel highlighted a range of outcomes, including issues tied to safety gear provisioning for female pilots, maternity leave standards, and the distinction between sexual harassment and gender-based discriminatory harassment. The 2023 report, for example, emphasized ensuring timely distribution of female-specific aviation safety gear, standardizing maternity leave, updating maternity uniforms for function and professionalism, and clarifying harassment definitions. The panel has asserted that, over decades, its recommendations have been adopted in full or in part by the Department of War at high rates.

DACOWITS has a long, documented history of influence. Since 1951, the committee says it has submitted more than 1,100 recommendations to the Secretary of War, with about 94% adopted in full or part through 2025. The panel’s record has often been cited by policymakers and advocates as a benchmark for civilian input on gender-related issues in the armed services. Critics of the group have pointed to times when the agenda has been framed as promoting gender quotas or broader DEI initiatives that some officials argued could impede combat readiness. During the George W. Bush era, for example, the administration scaled back the DACOWITS amid concerns that its recommendations favored gender quotas and other policies perceived as diverging from core military aims. Nancy M. Pfotenhauer, then-president of the Independent Women’s Forum, criticized the panel’s approach in 2002 statements cited by some outlets.

The department’s decision to end the advisory body comes at a moment of ongoing national debate over how best to balance readiness with inclusion. Supporters of the move argue that consolidating focus on uniform standards can reduce bureaucratic complexity and ensure that policy decisions center on combat effectiveness. Critics warn that eliminating independent civilian input on women’s issues in the services may erode accountability on a range of topics that have historically shaped service members’ experiences and career trajectories. The Department of War did not immediately provide additional comment to Fox News Digital.

The decision closes a chapter in a long-running policy conversation about women in the armed forces, set against a backdrop of evolving gender norms and military missions. As the service branches continue to refine their rules and practices around integration, body standards, and harassment policies, the future role of civilian advisory voices in shaping those policies remains a matter of debate for lawmakers, service members, and defense officials alike. The Pentagon and the White House have not publicly outlined alternative mechanisms for civilian input to replace DACOWITS in the immediate term.