Pentagon chief orders all military jobs open to women

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

After three years of study and debate, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the military Thursday to open all military jobs to women, removing the final barriers that kept women from serving in combat, including the most dangerous and grueling commando posts.

His landmark decision rebuffed requests by the Marine Corps to exclude women from certain infantry and combat jobs and signaled a formal recognition that thousands of women served, and many were wounded or killed, in the last 14 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force,” Carter told a news conference.

But he acknowledged some concerns. “Implementation won’t happen overnight. And while at the end of the day this will make us a better and stronger force, there still will be problems to fix and challenges to overcome. We shouldn’t diminish that.”

Carter said the military no longer can afford to exclude half the population from high-risk military posts. He said that any man or woman who meets the standards should be able to serve, and he gave the armed services 30 days to submit plans to make the historic change.

Carter’s order opens the final 10 percent of military positions to women – a total of about 220,000 jobs. And it allows them to serve in the most-demanding and difficult jobs, including as special operations forces, such as the Army Delta units and Navy SEALs.

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., one of the first Army women to fly combat missions in the 2003-11 Iraq war, welcomed the decision.

“I didn’t lose my legs in a bar fight – of course women can serve in combat,” said Duckworth.