Committee members review issues and conduct information-gathering activities through installation visits, meetings, reports, and surveys.

Previously, women had only been allowed to serve as nurses in peacetime with a wider variety of roles only open to them in time of war.

[2] However, with the start of the Korean War in June 1950, the DoD began to investigate ways to increase recruitment and retention of women in all services.

Internal inquiries from defense agencies, such as the National Security Resources Board, and external pressure from politicians, such as Senator Margaret Chase Smith, added to the sense of urgency in defining a more comprehensive position for women in the military.

[6] Committee members include leaders with diverse, inclusive, and varied backgrounds from academia, industry, private and public sectors, and other professions.

Of note, Committee members are appointed to serve as independent advisors, not as official representatives of any group or organization with which they may be affiliated.

[6] DACOWITS gathers information from multiple sources, to include briefings and written responses from DoD, Service-level military representatives, and subject matter experts.

The committee collects qualitative data from focus groups and interactions with Service members representing the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard during installation visits.