WASHINGTON -- The government yesterday asked a federal judge to dismiss Lt. Col. Martha E. McSally's complaint against an Air Force rule, now rescinded, that servicewomen be covered in traditional Muslim robes when traveling off base in Saudi Arabia.
But Rhode Island native McSally argued for a strong federal declaration that the rule was an unconstitutional infringement of her religious freedoms and that she will not be punished for fighting the dress code and related regulations.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson tried to prod McSally and the government toward an agreement that would prevent a trial on areas -- including McSally's religious views and the military's need to protect troops in wartime -- where he said the courts should tread lightly.
After a hearing that ran about an hour, Robertson said that he would rule as soon as possible on the government's motion to dismiss the case. But afterward, he kept the parties in his chambers for almost an hour to discuss a possible agreement to conclude the case.
The government's lawyers did not talk to reporters after the session but one of McSally's lawyers, John B. Williams, said McSally was open to a possible settlement. He did not discuss specific terms, however.
Robertson told the government's lawyers that McSally, the first American woman to fly in combat, "stuck her neck way out" to challenge the Air Force regulations requiring servicewomen to wear the head-to-toe "abaya" robes when away from their base in Riyadh, to travel off-base only in the company of men and to sit in the back seat of vehicles.
The Air Force has said that the rule was a response to Saudi laws and religious traditions and that it was intended to protect Air Force personnel who might otherwise be arrested and possibly punished by local religious police.
McSally resisted the regulation, first through her chain of command and, late last year, by filing her suit, which apparently led the Air Force to loosen its regulation early this year.
For "a successful career officer, taking on the Air Force in a highly publicized case like this" was "not an easy thing to do," Robertson said.
McSally argues that the relaxation of the Air Force dress code for women in Saudi Arabia, and related rules, has not been sufficient. While women are no longer under orders to wear the abaya off-base, the local Air Force commander has "strongly recommended" they do so.
As a practical matter, the average military person treats that kind of direction from a top officer as the equivalent of a direct order, McSally said.
McSally's lawyers also argued that she has effectively felt reprisals for bucking the chain of command. After superior fitness reports throughout her career and two key promotions ahead of her peers, she was passed over last year for a command position, McSally said.
But Robertson asked McSally's lawyers a series of questions about how the court could step in and draw conclusions about McSally's progress through the ranks -- or lack of it.
