[1][2] A group of naval officers who were discharged prior to their tenth year of commissioned service, as a result of not being promoted, received a lower rate of separation pay than female officers who were permitted to remain in service longer and receive three additional promotion board opportunities.

As a result, the female officers who failed to be promoted received a higher rate of separation pay over their male counterparts.

Ballard had also served as an enlisted sailor, but his eighteen years of total service was not enough to earn a military retirement.

The Supreme Court held that the law passed intermediate scrutiny equal protection analysis because women, excluded from combat duty, had fewer opportunities for advancement in the military.

The Court found the statute to directly compensate for the past statutory barriers to advancement did violate the Constitution.