Women In the Military Can Now Hold Combat Positions

Carter said the move will open almost 220,000 positions now closed to women, including infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and some special operations units.

“They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat”, he said.

Over the past three years, he added, senior civilian and military leaders across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command have studied the integration of women into these positions.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was the Marine Corps commandant at the time and argued that the Marines should be allowed to keep women out of certain front-line combat jobs.

Some of the findings of the nine-month Marine study on gender integration were released earlier this year, and concluded that women were more prone to injury, were less accurate with weapons, and struggled to move wounded troops off the battlefield, leading them to reject mixed-gender units.

But Mr. Carter said he overruled the Marines to open all combat positions to women because the military should operate under a common set of standards.

The official process to open combat jobs to women began in January 2013, when then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta rescinded the direct combat exclusion rule, which barred women from combat roles, following a 2012 lawsuit filed by female service members and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“And today, I’m announcing my decision not to make continued exceptions …”

While noting that, on average, men and women have different physical abilities, Carter said the services must assign tasks and jobs based on ability, rather than on gender.

“We’ve seen women in our armed forces prove their heroism and abilities, now our official policy is catching up and women who are qualified for these positions should be able to compete and win them”, Clinton said at a New Hampshire event after the announcement.

Dunford was, however, the only service cheif to issue such a recommendation.

Carter said the decision was part of his commitment to build a force of the future.

“That’s why we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known”, he said.

He said that the Marine Corps’ concerns would be addressed through a careful implementation of the change.

Three women made history this year when they graduated from the US Army’s elite Ranger school, previously only open to men.

For that reason, the defence secretary said the military should recruit women into as many specialities as possible. Our shared commitment to maximizing the combat effectiveness of the corps requires us to maintain validated, high individual standards.

Given the tough physical standards, Mr Carter stressed that equal opportunity would probably not translate to equal participation of men and women in all roles. The new policy will take effect after 30 days.