The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), hereafter referred to as “the Committee” or “DACOWITS,” was established in 1951 with a mandate to provide the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) with independent advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to service- women in the Armed Forces of the United States. Individual members of the Committee are appointed by the SECDEF and serve in a voluntary capacity for one- to four-year terms.

It has been the Committee’s approach since 2010, and again in 2014, to divide work into two areas of focus: Wellness and Assignments. The Committee selected speci c topics for study under each area of focus, and gathered both primary and secondary sources of information, including brie ngs from DoD and Service-level military representatives and subject matter experts (SMEs); data and other informa- tion collected from focus groups and interactions with Service members during installation visits; and literature reviews. These sources of information formed the basis for the Committee’s recommendations and reasoning.

The Committee voted on recommendations during its September 2014 business meeting and approved this annual report at its December 2014 business meeting.