U.S Defense Secretary Ash Carter Tells Military to Open Positions to Women

U.S Defense Secretary, Ash Carter ordered the U.S military to open all combat jobs to women. Carter’s demand was made Thursday following requests by the Marine Corps to exclude women from certain front-line combat jobs.

“We are a joint force”, declared Carter. He continued to say while moving women fighters into these positions will present challenges but the military cannot afford to exclude half the population from the more grueling military jobs.

The Defense announcement stated, “any man or woman who meets the standards should be able to serve.” Carter has given the U.S armed services 30 days to submit plans to make this historic change to their regulations.

This new demand now opens the final 10 percent of military positions to women and allows them to serve in the most demanding and dangerous jobs such as Special Operation Forces, Army Delta and Navy SEALs.

This new announcement was not well received by all military forces. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and former Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Joseph Dunford argued the Marines “should be allowed to keep women out of certain front-line combat jobs,” citing statistics that in the past have shown that mixed-gender units aren’t as capable as all-male units.

Secretary Carter recognizes Dunford’s concern and although he came to a different conclusion, he says integration of women into the combat jobs will be deliberate and methodical while addressing the concerns of the Marine Corps.

While understanding that men and women have different physical abilities, Carter says the services must assign tasks based on ability and not gender.