Washington, DC Final Report transmitted to the President December 15, 1992 Washington, DC Final Report transmitted to Congress Findings and recommendations A. Quotas and Goals Quotas should be avoided at all costs as they tend to be biased and discriminatory. "Best qualified" should be the sole criterion for assignments open to both genders. Commission vote—Yes=9, No=6, Abs=0 B. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Duty A voluntary assignment policy would hinder combat readiness and effectiveness. A gender-neutral assignment policy for qualified persons should be used. The term "qualified" is determined solely by law and policy. Commission vote—Yes=10, No=2, Abs=3 C. Fitness/Wellness Standards Current good health practices are not linked either to specific assignments or gender but rather to the highest levels of general fitness/wellness for the armed services. Commission vote—Yes=12, No=0, Abs=1, NV=2 D. Occupational Physical Requirements The armed services should adopt specific requirements for those occupational specializations requiring muscular strength, endurance, or cardio-vascular capacity without regard to gender. Commission vote—Yes=9, No=4, Abs=2 E. Basic Training Standards Entry-level physical training may be gender-specific as necessary for specific assignments. Commission vote—Yes=8, No=6, Abs=1 F. Pre-Commissioning Standards Physical training in the military academies, officer candidate schools, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps already have appropriate gender-neutral and gender-specific programs in place. These programs do not appear to compromise either combat performance or combat readiness. Commission vote—Yes=10, No=4, Abs=1 G. Gender-Related Occupational Standards Gender-neutral muscular strength, endurance, and cardiovascular capacity requirements may be adopted for those specialties for which they are relevant. Commission vote—Yes=14, No=0, Abs=0, NV=1 H. Parental and Family Police The Defense Department should review all policies regarding single and dual-service parents. Policies on recruitment, retention, deployment, and child care for such personnel require either new policies or better implementation of existing policies. Commission vote—Yes=9, No=0, Abs=1, NV=5 I. Pregnancy and Deployability Policies Consistency of application and force readiness should drive Defense Department policies regarding pregnancy. Current pregnancy rates among women aviators do not hamper unit performance or readiness. Commission vote—Yes=8, No=0, Abs=2, NV=5 J. Combat Roles for Women While circumstances exist where female personnel may be assigned to combat situations, unit readiness for combat should be the main policy concern. Commission vote—Yes=8, No=1, Abs=1, NV=5 K. Ground Combat Women may not be assigned to direct land combat units. Commission vote—Yes=10, No=0, Abs=2, NV=5 L. Combat Aircraft Women may not be assigned to fly in combat-mission aircraft. "The one vote margin by which this