But he acknowledged some concerns. “Implementation won’t happen overnight. We shouldn’t diminish that”.
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The Air Force announced in July that it would double the length of its deferment for assessing the fitness of new mothers from six months to a year after they give birth, and that it would also extend deployment deferment for new mothers from six months to one year.
In the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, our courageous women in uniform have served with honor, on the front lines and some have given their very lives, he said. “This decision is long overdue”.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Tex., Chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, said their committees would carefully review all documentation related to the decision, including the report from the Marines. This includes participating in front-line combat positions and serving as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Marine Corps infantry, and Air Force parajumpers, jobs that were previously only open to men.
Some of the most high-profile evaluations were carried out by the Army that, for the first time, allowed women to try out for the elite Ranger School.
Dunford was, however, the only service cheif to issue such a recommendation.
The Marine Corps was the service most vehemently opposed to integration. “Leaders must emphasise that objective to all service members, men and women alike”, he said. Twenty-six had been awarded the Combat Action Badge, meaning they have encountered enemy fire or been stationed in combat zones. But Carter said that there are specialties that require women in forward combat positions, such as interrogative contacts with women encountered during battlefield sweeps.
The move will lead to some 220,000 openings to women, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Marines, Maj. Christian Devine, said in a statement that the corps will begin immediately to implement the change, but will maintain the standards of the force while also working to “optimize individual performance”.
President Barack Obama’s administration in 2013 asked for all combat positions to be open to women by 2016, including the infantry, artillery and special forces. Advancement must be based on objective and validated standards. “The military has long prided itself on being a meritocracy”, Carter says.
He said that was likely to result in smaller numbers of women in some jobs.
The service branches have until New Year’s Day to formulate and submit plans for the transition, and until April 1 for the new standards to become official armed forces policy.
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Women represented about 2 percent of US casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some 300,000 deploying to the conflict zones. Half the American population is female.
