Boeing Communications Chief Resigns Over 1987 Article re Women in Combat

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After an anonymous complaint about a 33-year-old article arguing women should not serve in combat, the Boeing Company's communications chief abruptly resigned.

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My article was a 29-year-old Cold War navy pilot's misguided contribution to a debate that was live at the time," said Niel Golightly said in a statement accompanying Boeing's announcement. Although his view was mainstream at the time, and women are still not required to register for the draft, Golight said his article was "embarrassingly wrong and offensive."

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Golightly served for 14 years in the U.S. Navy, as a fighter pilot and as speechwriter to the secretary of the Navy and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He became Boeing's vice president for communications Jan. 1 and was said to be introducing sweeping changes.

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An excerpt of his offending article on the U.S. Naval Institute website, titled "No Right to Fight," said: "At issue is not whether women can fire M-60s, dogfight MiGs, or drive tanks. Introducing women into combat would destroy the exclusively male intangibles of war fighting and the feminine images of what men fight for -- peace, home, family."

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