US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has decided to lift the military’s ban on women serving in combat, a senior Pentagon official has said.
The move could open hundreds of thousands of frontline positions and elite commando jobs to women.
It overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to small ground-combat units.
But the military would have until 2016 to argue for any specific posts they think should remained closed to women.
Pentagon to end ban on women in front-line combat
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has decided to lift the military’s ban on women serving in combat, a senior Pentagon official has said.
The move could open hundreds of thousands of frontline positions and elite commando jobs to women.
It overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to small ground-combat units.
But the military would have until 2016 to argue for any specific posts they think should remained closed to women.