The Command by David Poyer Page B

the apartment she rented in Alexandria. He honestly didn’t know if it was working. They were just both so damned busy. And now here he was off again.
    Then she turned her head and smiled, and he set aside his doubts. Whatever the future brought, he had this moment. This and a few more, moments of fulfillment and love, like jewels set into an iron bracelet of duty.
    â€œNo bad dreams?”
    â€œNot tonight.”
    â€œThat’s good. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
    â€œHell, no. It’s well past 0400. What’re you doing?”
    â€œThe staff did a draft of my remarks, but they can’t seem to get them through the hotel’s fax.”
    â€œYou can do that kind of stuff off the cuff. What, are you worried about it?”
    â€œI like to have something in my pocket.”
    â€œI thought I was the only one who wasn’t sure what he was doing.”
    For that he got a glance over the glasses. “You wanted command, right? You didn’t want the staff job.”
    â€œI wouldn’t be right in legislative affairs, Blair. Sooner or later I’d tell them what I thought of them.”
    â€œYeah. You tend to do that. So what’s the problem?”
    â€œI guess, this whole assignment.”
    â€œWhat about it disturbs you?”
    â€œWhy I was selected for it, for one thing.”
    â€œWhy would the navy possibly select you for
Horn?
Well, let’s see. Surely not because of your combat record. Or your sea time. Or your Silver Star and Congressional. That couldn’t have had anything to do with it.”
    â€œI’m not sure that’s true.”
    She took her glasses off and leaned forward, and her robe fell open even more. “Dan, let me speak from the SecDef perspective. You’re something we don’t have very many of anymore. We’ve got policy wonks, and acquisitions guys, and hardware and systems and logistics types. What we don’t seem to be generating are war fighters. You can argue the reasons for that all you want. I know you’ve got opinions on the issue.”
    â€œI sure do.”
    â€œI don’t have any insight into the selection process. It’s service level, opaque to us. But I think that’s precisely why you were chosen. What’s more, you’ve got an open mind. You can give this concept of putting women in combatants a fair trial.” She bent to look out; he saw past her the first emanation of dawn rising from the river. “Yeomen in World War I. Transport pilots in World War II. The navy started them off in transports and hospital ships in the seventies. But so far, they can’t serve on warships.”
    â€œBecause Congress says they can’t.”
    â€œTitle 10 U.S. Code, para 6015. For years Congress said the code was there because the services wouldn’t accept women. And the services said Congress forced them to continue their exclusionary policies. But Panama and Desert Storm fixed that. Twenty-three women got the Combat Action Ribbon from the Marine Corps alone.”
    She touched the computer, keeping it awake, and went on. “Actually, they
can
serve on combatants, as long as they’re temporary billets. Legal officer on the
Independence.
If they’re civilians, they can serve in the replenishment ships that refuel the battle groups. The EEOC under Title 7 forced us to let female engineers and technicians accompany combatants on sea trials. So they
can
go to sea, and they
do
go to sea … and keeping them out of ship’s company looks more artificial every year. Now the Defense Advisory Council has called for bringing down those statutes. And I agree.”
    â€œI sort of thought you would.”
    â€œIt’s not because I’m a woman, smart-ass. The manpower figures say we have to. I’ve tested the waters with the chiefs. The air force chief of staff needs pilots no matter what’s between their legs. The Marine Corps’s against. The