Pentagon Removes Ban on Women In Combat

The Army, Marines and other services will develop plans to open jobs in ground combat units.

Equality for women has now stretched to the battlefield. Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, are expected to formally announce a lift in the ban on women serving in combat roles on Thursday. The decision comes less than a year and half after the formal end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy,” which banned gay men and women from serving openly.

Panetta, who is expected to step down in the coming days, has said that the Pentagon is identifying ways to open more opportunities to women. According to the Defense Department, 152 female troops have been killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars.

Following the announcement, the Army, Marines and other services will then develop plans to open jobs in ground combat units, such as the infantry, to women. (Washington Post)

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