Pentagon to Let Women Serve in All U.S. Combat Positions
- Move opens 220,000 previously closed military jobs to women
- Defense secretary's decision overrules Marine Corps objections
Female Marine recruits navigate an obstacle during boot camp on Feb. 27, 2013, at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Women will be allowed in all combat positions throughout the U.S. military, ending decades of exclusion from front-line jobs, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday.
“To succeed in our mission of national defense, we cannot afford to cut ourselves off from half the country’s talents and skills,” Carter told reporters at the Pentagon.