“There will be no exceptions,” Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said today as he announced all combat jobs would be open to women serving in the military today.
Described as “a historic transformation,” The New York Times reports that this “groundbreaking decision” reverses a 1994 rule that restricted “women from artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles, even though in reality women often found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 14 years.”
“When I became secretary of defense, I made a commitment to building America’s force of the future,” Mr. Carter told reporters. “In the 21st century that requires drawing strength from the broadest possible pool of talent. This includes women.”