This news is huge!
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that the military is now opening up all combat jobs for women! The new policy implementation will be in 30 days.
The Air Force and Navy already had most jobs open to women. But this implementation includes 220,000 jobs in the Marines and the Army that are now open to women. This includes infantry, artillery, and armored positions.
Women will be able to drive tanks, lead troops, and compete for Special Forces and SEAL positions.
In 2013, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Pannetta ordered the military to open up all jobs to women. They were given until 2016 to implement the changes.
Women have always been involved in war in one capacity or another. As early as The Revolutionary War women followed their husbands into the war to serves as cooks, laundresses, and nurses, but only if the commanding officers approved them.
In 1782, Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man and served with George Washington. She was discovered when she got injured, and she was honourably discharged.
During the Civil War women served as cooks and nurses in both Union and Confederate hospitals. Some wealthy women funded private hospitals.
Women were not allowed to officially join the military until the last two years of World War I. During World War II, more than 400,000 women served at home and abroad as mechanics, ambulance drivers, nurses and other non-combat roles.
In 1991, women were authorized to fly in combat missions. In 1993, women were allowed to serve on ships in a non-combat role. In 2000, Captain Kathleen McGrath became the first woman to command a Navy warship. In 2003, three women became prisoners of war in the early days of the Iraq war. As of 2008, 16,000 were serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and others.
This announcement today opens up many opportunities for women who want to serve their country. They have worked long and hard toward that privilege.
Featured image by Jeff Golden, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
