Female "Cultural Support Teams (CSTs)" in the U.S. Special Operations Forces

Category: Combat

The Afghan War News site offers a list of articles and videos about "Cultural Support Teams (CSTs) dating back to 2010. The primary task of the CSTs is to engage the female population of Afghanistan to support civic-action, raids, information gathering, and other types of operational missions.

While CSTs and military "Field Engagement Teams (FETs)" have similar tasks, CSTs are attached to Special Operation Forces. The CST members are selected and undergo special training to prepare them to work with special operations forces.

CSTs serve in combat environments as "attached" and not "assigned" personnel. Military lawyers determined this status to be legal under military policy, at least pre-January 1, 2016, when military Services must open 100% of their occupational specialties to women unless granted an exception by their Service Chief and the Secretary of Defense. Training, organizing, and equipping these teams is considered by some to continue to be adhoc and not standardized.

In 2004, the U.S. Marines' "Lioness Program" served a similar combat role in Iraq. Army women were assigned to these teams, facing boots-on-the-ground challenges that put their lives, as well as their teams' lives, at risk due to the lack of standardized training across Services.

These teams' "attached" status created official and unofficial barriers to recognition, written and unwritten, of "Lioness," "Field Engagement Team," and "Cultural Support Team" members' combat service within the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. Subsequently, promotion and assignment competitiveness as well as benefit access were adversely impacted.

External Website:
Afghan War News