Boeing communications head Niel Golightly has resigned following a complaint about an article he wrote in 1987 saying women shouldn't serve in the military, according to a company press release.
“My article was a 29-year-old Cold War navy pilot’s misguided contribution to a debate that was live at the time. My argument was embarrassingly wrong and offensive," Golightly said in the statement.
Golightly was employed for about six months with Boeing, which said it does not agree with his views in the article.
"The dialogue that followed its publication 33 years ago quickly opened my eyes, indelibly changed my mind, and shaped the principles of fairness, inclusion, respect and diversity that have guided my professional life since," Golightly continued. "The article is not a reflection of who I am; but nonetheless I have decided that in the interest of the company I will step down."
Boeing president and CEO David Calhoun thanked Golightly for his contribution to the company.
“At issue is not whether women can fire M-60s, dogfight MiGs, or drive tanks,” Golightly, then a Navy lieutenant, wrote in a U.S. Naval Institute magazine.
“Introducing women into combat would destroy the exclusively male intangibles of war fighting and the feminine images of what men fight for — peace, home, family.”
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