THE HILL: Panetta to lift ban on women in combat

Not certain how I would feel about this, although if a woman could match the standards of most men in combat then there should be no problem. Besides, say we now will allow women to serve in frontline infantry units. They had better be able to hold their own in the event of hand-to-hand combat. All fighting isn't necesarily with rifles.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is ending the military’s ban on women serving in combat.

The move could open up more than 230,000 jobs that had been previously closed to women by overturning a 1994 ban on female servicemembers in small combat units.

A senior defense official confirmed that Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey would officially announce the policy change on Thursday.

Panetta’s decision gives the military services until 2016 to request special exceptions for positions they think should remain closed to women, according to the Associated Press, which first reported the move.

The services will now develop plans to implement the policy change, which was recommend by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the service chiefs will report back to Panetta — or potentially his successor — in May.

To be sure in light of the wars we've been fighting since 2002 in both Afghanistan and Iraq, more and more women are serving on our front lines even in combat roles. Many have been casualties and suffering the same war injuries men are. I suppose when it comes to the role of women in our armed services this is the next logical conclusion. 

 

Both men and women in our armed services our doing wonderful jobs and bless them for volunteering to serve in the military!

Hat-tip Instapundit!