Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey signed an order rescinding the ban on women serving in combat units Thursday, setting in motion a three-year plan to open up as many as 237,000 positions to female service members.
The Pentagon leaders said that the policy change will not automatically open every combat position to women, but now the onus will be on the services to make the argument why women should not serve in a particular occupation or unit.
“Not everyone is going to be able to be a combat soldier. But everyone is entitled to a chance,” Panetta said before he and Dempsey signed the order that lifted the ban at Thursday's press briefing.
Read more on The Hill's DEFCON Hill blog.
