Army Husbands

Taps for another sex-discrimination rule. Air Force Lieutenant Sharon Frontiero, 26, who was a nurse at Maxwell Air Base in Montgomery, Ala., demanded a housing 'allowance for herself and her husband, Joseph, a student at nearby Huntingdon College. Against regulations, said the Air Force--a husband cannot be a dependent unless his wife can prove that she pays more than half of his support (Frontiero was living mostly on veterans' benefits). Last week, though Mrs. Frontiero has by now returned to civilian life, the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in her favor.

Married servicewomen, said the court, are entitled to get the same dependency benefits that men get--which will mean $45 to $58 more per month. There are almost 9,000 married women in the services (out of a total of 48,707), but it is not yet clear how many will be affected by the ruling. The Pentagon declares, however, that it welcomes the advent of Army husbands.

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