Martha McSally, the highest ranking female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. [AP Photo]

The first woman to ever fly a U.S. combat mission sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to challenge a policy that mandates Islamic dress and customs for U.S. military women based in Saudi Arabia when they travel off-base.

According to the lawsuit filed by Lt. Col. Martha McSally on December 3, women can be court-martialed if they leave Prince Sultan Air Base without a male chaperone, are not covered from head-to-toe with a dark ``abayah'' robe, or sit in the front seat of a vehicle.

In the lawsuit McSally said the Pentagon regulations, which are imposed only in Saudi Arabia, violate her First Amendment constitutional right to practice her Christian faith freely and to not have a religion imposed on her.

Judge James Robertson, of the U.S. District Court in Washington where the suit was filed, has been asked to enjoin enforcement of the regulations, to block any disciplinary action against McSally, and to award her legal fees and costs.

Last year McSally was transferred to Saudi Arabia, where the policy her lawsuit described as ``irrational'' and would affect her directly.

A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command said the regulations were adopted by the U.S. base commander at the time who, like his counterparts at all military sites, made policy in accordance with local ``cultural sensitivities.''

Military officials have asserted that the policy, rather than discriminating against military women, is intended to protect them from harassment by Saudi religious police.

McSally is scheduled to return to the United States on Dec. 15 and is unable to comment publicly while on duty, according to a Delaware-based attorney for the Rutherford Institute, the religious and civil rights organization that is paying McSally's legal costs.

(Agencies)