Air Force Official Predicts Draft May Affect Women

The United States will probably draft women if a war breaks out within the next five years, Antonia H. Chayes '50, undersecretary of the United States Air Force, told a Law School audience of about 40 people last night.

During a panel discussion entitled "Women in War" Chayes said, "Women will have the privilege of serving their country, sharing in the hardships involved, and carrying the obligations of full citizenship."

She said the relatively recent admission of women to highly skilled areas within the armed forces and the relaxation of attitudes toward women at military academies both indicate a growing acceptance of women's participation in military affairs.

The concept of a war in which men fight a front battle while women guard the rear is obsolete, Chayes said. She pointed out that intelligence--not "brute force"--is necessary in a war based on sophisticated weapon systems.

Chayes said that supporting a draft for women does not conflict with the views of feminists, who oppose a women's draft because of the lack of an Equal Rights Amendment.

"If women accept equal obligations, what remains of equal rights will be forthcoming," she said, adding, "It's a matter of strategy rather than philosophy."

Mary Mubi, a member of the Zimbabwe African National Union and a graduate student at Boston University, said women within patriarchal societies hasten their liberation by taking direct action and assuming positions of power.