DefSec Carter Announces All Military Combat Roles Will Now Be Open to Women

There are various combat roles that, for years, women have been restricted from fulfilling in the United States military. The 1994 Combat Exclusion Policy has kept female soldiers from being infantry, artillery, combat engineers, etc., but that’s about to change.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today that all combat positions will now be open to women, saying, “When I became secretary of defense, I made a commitment to building America’s force of the future. In the 21st century that requires drawing strength from the broadest possible pool of talent. This includes women.”

According to The New York Times, the Marines had been opposed to this decision and put out a study back in September saying that gender-integrated units were not as effective as all-male units.

But Carter overruled their objection and clarified today that units would likely remain largely male and there would be “no quotas or perception thereof.”

President Obama praised the decision, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford––himself a Marine general––released a statement saying, “My focus is to lead the full integration of women in a manner that maintains our joint warfighting capability, ensures the health and welfare of our people, and optimizes how we leverage talent across the Joint Force.”

Watch Carter’s announcement above, via the AP/NYT.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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