Women in Combat
Saying that America’s armed forces must draw from “the broadest possible pool of talent,” Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, on December 3, 2015, ordered the U.S. military to open all combat jobs to women, with “no exceptions.” Prior to this announcement, women were not precluded by law from serving in any military unit or specialty; however, a 1994 Department of Defense policy barred them from serving in combat. In January 2013, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta directed each branch of the armed services to assess the impact of opening combat positions to women and to develop plans for integrating them…
