Accessibility links

Breaking News
USA

US Military to Allow Women in Combat Roles

update

FILE - U.S. soldier Pfc. Janelle Zalkovsky, from civil affairs unit of 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, provides security while other soldiers survey a newly constructed road in Ibriam Jaffes, Iraq.
FILE - U.S. soldier Pfc. Janelle Zalkovsky, from civil affairs unit of 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, provides security while other soldiers survey a newly constructed road in Ibriam Jaffes, Iraq.

U.S. women soldiers will be able to drive tanks and fire mortars in the near future as the Pentagon opens combat missions to women starting in the new year.

"There will be no exception," U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said as he made the announcement Thursday at the Pengagon.

He said that America’s all volunteer fighting force cannot afford to ignore half of the population in the 21st century that requires “drawing strength from the broadest possible pool,” including women.

"We have to take full advantage of every individual who can meet our standards," Carter said.

Watch video report from Jeff Seldin:

US Opens All Military Combat Roles to Women
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:02:03 0:00

Women have been inching their way towards combat roles since the mid-1970s, when they first became eligible to attend the military service academies and enlist in the U.S. armed forces. Currently women are prohibited only from combat jobs, about 10 percent of military occupations.

Carter said three of America’s armed forces were in favor of allowing women into the military’s most demanding and dangerous jobs. However, the Marine Corps has wanted to make certain exceptions based on studies that showed women reduced the effectiveness of fighting forces.

FILE - U.S. Marine and Female Engagement Team leader Sgt. Sheena Adams (L) and H.N. Shannon Crowley from First Battalion, Eighth Marines sit in an armored vehicle before heading out on an operation from their base at Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.
FILE - U.S. Marine and Female Engagement Team leader Sgt. Sheena Adams (L) and H.N. Shannon Crowley from First Battalion, Eighth Marines sit in an armored vehicle before heading out on an operation from their base at Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.

After a three-year review, Carter said that he viewed the data differently and that he thinks the Marine Corps issues will be addressed as the new rule is implemented.

“The key here is implementation,” Carter said, adding that he is directing the military to do it in a combined manner, with “all services working together.”
He noted that the overarching objective is to improve U.S. fighting forces.

He said that decisions about tasks and jobs throughout the armed forces will be made on ability not gender, that equal opportunity will not necessarily mean equal participation, that physical abilities will be taken into account for certain jobs and that international realities will also have to be considered regarding certain missions.

FILE - U.S. Army convoys are given the thumbs up from a fellow soldier after crossing into Kuwait during the last convoy out of Iraq.
FILE - U.S. Army convoys are given the thumbs up from a fellow soldier after crossing into Kuwait during the last convoy out of Iraq.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG