What s in a Name? Talking about Military Spouses | Proceedings - February 2024 Vol 150/2/1,452 usni.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usni.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
How a Maxwell lieutenant and future Supreme Court justice equalized pay for Armed Forces
Just Do Right. to make Maxwell Air Force Base a better place for all
Col. Eries L.G. Mentzer
Just Do Right.
That is exactly what Lieutenant Sharron Frontiero, now Sharron Cohen, did in 1970. As a physical therapist assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base, she refused to accept that the United States Air Force would not extend married female Airmen the same spousal benefits as married male Airmen.
At the time, a married man in the Armed Forces was automatically entitled to spousal benefits but a married woman in the Armed Forces had to prove that her husband was dependent on her for more than one-half of his support. So, Lieutenant Frontiero sued Secretary of Defense Elliott L. Richardson for equal pay and in 1973 the United States Supreme Court ruled that military benefits could not be paid differently based on gender.