Advocacy groups sue Defense Department for records assessing women in combat roles

The plaintiffs asked for records pertaining to a commissioned evaluation of women’s effectiveness in combat roles and physical eligibility standards. U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Angela Scolari, front, fires a rifle during an all-female marksmanship subject matter expert exchange between U.S. Marines and Jordanian soldiers during an exercise in Al-Quwayrah, Jordan, in October 2024. (Angela Wilcox/U.S. Marine Corps) WASHINGTON — Civil rights and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday to force the Pentagon to release documents and communications connected to an ongoing formal review of women in combat roles ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top military leaders. The National Women’s Law Center, the Service Women’s Action Network and the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU Foundation filed the complaint in U.S.

District Court for the District of Columbia, demanding the “immediate processing and timely release of records from Defendant Department of Defense and component entities.” The plaintiffs specifically asked for records that they have sought under the Freedom of Information Act pertaining to a commissioned evaluation of women’s “effectiveness” in combat roles and internal plans to modify physical eligibility standards for those jobs. The plaintiffs stated that the Defense Department did not respond to the FOIA request, which was made in August. “The Department of Defense owes service women and the public full transparency about why this