NEWSMAX: Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta will remove the military’s ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.
The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta’s decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women…
In recent years the necessities of war propelled women into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that were sometimes attached — but not formally assigned — to units on the front lines… (more)
EDITOR: Other reports are that the armed services will be permitted to exclude women from certain combat roles where, for example comparative strength, would be a factor. The very nature of modern warfare has long involved women in combat. The new ruling recognizes this.
