Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has ordered the military to allow women to serve in all positions of their forces. It’s a decision that will lift the barriers that prevent women taking on certain front-line combat jobs.
NPR notes that the formal process to open combat positions was initially put into place in early 2013, but there has been resistance to including women in certain branches of the armed forces. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford argued that women should be barred from certain front-line combat jobs and presented studies that he says show that a mixed-gender unit isn’t as capable as an all-male unit. It should be noted that Dunford was not in attendance for Carter’s news conference on the decision.
This landmark development opens up the final 10 percent of military positions to women with the opportunity to become a part of demanding units like the Navy SEALS. Carter told the press that it was not advantageous to exclude 50 percent of the population from high risk military posts and that he understands there will be some hiccups in getting this plan up and running:
“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 expressed that the process to begin implementing women into these roles should begin in the next thirty days. The Defense Secretary also declared that no quotas will be implemented and that the women that arrive in these new positions will be there because of their qualifications and ability to perform combat roles.
(Via AP)