The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) held their two-day spring quarterly committee meeting in Arlington, Virginia, March 11-12.

The committee discussed topics focused on, but not limited to, the Navy's increasing female accessions and the status of enlisted women on submarines.

"With the resending of the 1994 rule and the ground combat inclusion opening the door for the Navy to be able to change the policy, the wonderful news here is as of 21 January the submarine force policy was officially changed," said Capt. Rodney E. Hutton, commander, Trident Training Facility, Kings Bay, during his remarks at the meeting. "So as of today I can stand here and I can tell you, all ratings and all NEC's in the submarine force are open to women,"

During 2014, DACOWITS continued to follow the Department of Defense's and the services ongoing implementation of their plans to open closed positions and units to women no later than Jan. 1, 2016.

"Our overarching strategy in the Navy is to increase the presence of women in operational billets as well as across all jobs and ranks," said Cmdr. Renee Squier, head of Diversity, Inclusion and Women's Policy at the office of the Chief of Naval Personnel. "We hear from our Sailors, both men and woman and the top three challenges that they are facing and the reason that they are leaving is the same, the challenges about having a family, the challenges for work life balance, and geographic stability,"

DACOWITS was established in 1951 and is composed of civilian women and men who are appointed by the Secretary of Defense to provide advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to the recruitment and retention, treatment, employment, integration, and well-being of highly qualified professional women in the armed forces.

In addition, during the meeting retired Vice Adm. Carol M. Pottenger, along with three others, received their induction into the committee. Qualified candidates are selected to serve as DACOWITS committee members on the basis of their experience with the military or with women's workforce issues.

Pottenger obtained her commission through Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps at Purdue University in 1977. She was one of the first women selected for sea duty. Pottenger reported aboard USS Yosemite (AD 19) as engineering division officer and completed a Mediterranean deployment. She also served aboard USS Yellowstone (AD 41) and USS Kiska (AE 35) and USS Shasta (AE 33) in 1996, USS Bridge (AOE 10) in 2001.

The Committee is composed of not more than 20 civilian members, representing a distribution of demography, professional career fields, community service, and geography.

For more information about the Navy's Office of Women's Policy, visit http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/organization/bupers/womenspolicy/Pages/default.aspx