WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US military has opened all of its combat operations to women after a careful review of the longstanding Pentagon policy, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced on Thursday.
"Today I'm announcing my decision to not to make continued exceptions, that is to proceed with opening all these remaining occupations and positions to women, there will be no exceptions," Carter said during a news conference.
Carter added that he decided to open up combat positions to women for the "entire force" despite Marine Corps’ recommendations against it.
The Pentagon’s announcement comes after three years of deliberation. US female service members had been prohibited from serving in combat positions since 1994 and were rarely considered for front-line combat duty before that.
