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This article states that are opening more positions for women.

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women in combat: u.s. joins more than a dozen nations  - cnn

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Women in combat: U.S. joins more than a dozen nations - CNN

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More than a dozen industrialized nations allow women to serve in combat roles, including Germany, France, Israel and Australia. The U.S. is joining that group.

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This article states how women can protect the world as well as men can.

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Saying America's military must draw from "the broadest possible pool of talent," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday that women in the U.S. military - including the Army and Marines - can now serve in combat posts.

The formal process to open combat jobs to women began in January of 2013; in finishing that process, Carter acknowledged that in recent years, U.S. women have fought - and sometimes given their lives - in combat posts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carter made the announcement at noon Thursday; the event was not attended by Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, whose branch of the service was the only one to request the ability to make exceptions to the new rule. Dunford is now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"There will be no exceptions," Carter said.

We're updating this post with news from the event.
Update at 5:10 p.m. ET: 'Another Historic Step Forward,' Obama Says
In a statement issued after Carter's announcement, President Obama says:

"One of the qualities that makes America's armed forces the best in the world is that we draw on the talents and skills of our people. When we desegregated our military, it became stronger. In recent years, we ended 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and allowed gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly - and it's made our military stronger. Over recent decades, we've opened about 90 percent of military positions to women who time and again have proven that they, too, are qualified, ready and up to the task. 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.

"Today, the Defense Department is taking another historic step forward by opening up the remaining 10 percent of military positions, including combat roles, to women. As Commander in Chief, I know that this change, like others before it, will again make our military even stronger. Our armed forces will draw on an even wider pool of talent. Women who can meet the high standards required will have new opportunities to serve. I know that, under the leadership of Secretary Carter and Chairman Dunford, our men and women in uniform will implement this transition - as they have others - in a responsible manner that maintains military readiness and the unparalleled professionalism and strength of our armed forces. Together, we're going to make sure our military remains the finest fighting force in the history of the world, worthy of all our patriots who serve - men and women."
Update at 12:46 p.m. ET: No 'Absolute Choice'
Carter says the new rule means women in the military who are deemed fit for combat can be assigned to those roles, rather than relying on their own initiative to seek roles in combat. The lack of "absolute choice" for posts and assignments is part of being in the military, he says.

Earlier in the briefing, Carter said women can now vie for spots on Navy SEALS teams and other elite units.
Update at 12:36 p.m. ET: Selective Service Registration For Women?
"That is a matter of legal dispute right now," Carter says, adding that the outcome of that process won't affect his decision.
Update at 12:26 p.m. ET: Marines' Resistance
Answering a question about Joint Chiefs chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford's resistance to the idea of full integration of women in combat roles, Carter says he "strongly agreed" with Dunford's idea that the way implementation is handled is the key to the new policy's success.

He adds that there's "a great value" to implementing the process on a joint basis, with all branches of the service included.

Carter did not directly respond to what flaws he found in Dunford's analysis.

In September, the Marine Corps released results of a study that found all-male units perform better in combat than do mixed units.

As reporters at the briefing note, Dunford is not attending today's announcement.
Update at 12:26 p.m. ET: Guidelines For Implementation
Listing details about how the new rules will take effect, Carter says no quotas will be imposed on women's numbers in the military. He adds that the military will also have to dispel the idea - held by some men and women in the military, he said - that women might be included in a unit for any reason other than their qualifications.

Carter says women's qualifications and the ability to perform combat roles will be main priorities as the new rules are implemented.

The process of integrating women into combat roles must begin in the next 30 days, he says.
Update at 12:18 p.m. ET: Carter Makes It Official
Secretary Carter says the Pentagon can't afford to omit half of America's population from consideration.

He adds that since the 1970s, women have been able to attend U.S. service academies, and that in the early 1990s women's military roles were expanded, with each branch allowed to make some exceptions that kept women out of combat.

"There will be no exceptions," Carter says of Thursday's change in the rules.
Our original post continues:
Women are being cleared to play a greater role in combat - and vie for thousands of jobs - after the military conducted an internal review of how they might perform in artillery, armor and infantry roles.

From NPR's Tom Bowman and our national security desk:

"Some Pentagon officials, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, have said they worry about the ability of Marine infantry units to be as effective with both male and female troops. Carter is expected to say he'll take Dunford's concerns into consideration in opening the military jobs.

"The Pentagon has been opening up jobs to women throughout the Obama administration, admitting women to Navy submarines and to the Army's elite Ranger School."

The formal announcement comes as more female service members have been training for roles on the front lines. In August, two female soldiers graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga. Currently, women make up less than 10 percent of Marine Corps personnel.

The announcement comes more than 20 years after women were officially excluded from serving in small ground combat units back in 1994. It also comes three years after a group of servicewomen sued the Pentagon and then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in 2012. Two months after that suit was filed, Panetta announced that women would be gradually allowed to serve combat roles.

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Pentagon Says Women Can Now Serve In Front-Line Ground Combat Positions

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Saying America's military must draw from "the broadest possible pool of talent," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday that women in the U.S. military - including the Army and Marines - can now serve in combat posts. The formal process to open combat jobs to women began in January of 2013; in finishing that process, Carter acknowledged that in recent years, U.S.

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First Day Combat Training For Female US Marines | Forces TV

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What the Marines Learned About Opening Military Combat Roles to Women

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This article states that women are finally  being allowed to fight for the world.

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Women in combat: US military officially lifts ban on female soldiers

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1994 ban has prevented women from serving in combat, despite making up 14% of the military's 1.4 million active members

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The military is opening some things for the women but the men are still getting more things.

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The Defense Department recently announced new policies that will open more than 14,000 military job opportunities to women. Which seems like a great step-except that more than 200,000 positions will still remain exclusive to men, from front-line infantry positions to high-level special operations roles.

Why? According to a press release , "the department recognizes there are practical barriers that require time to resolve to ensure the services maximize the safety and privacy of all service members while maintaining military readiness."

But others see things differently: "[According to researchers], traditional attitudes make many people both uncomfortable with the idea of women fighting and unable to handle the image of mothers coming home in body bags," says Discovery News . They also note, "there are also concerns that women will interfere with group bonding and cohesion-the same arguments that long interfered with the integration of African Americans and gay people into the military."

So we decided to go straight to the source: We asked women who have served in the armed forces how they feel about the decision, and their thoughts on what it will really take to achieve gender equality in the military. Here's what we found out.

Gender Equality, Job Equality

Most of the women we spoke with strongly believe that the military should be like any other job field: All opportunities should be open to both men and women. "To keep someone out of something... or restrict them when they're capable still doesn't make sense to me," explains Air Force Captain Kristen Franke. Banning women from certain jobs, she says, is as archaic as the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Critics, of course, have expressed concerns about women being able to do the job, particularly for front-line positions. But, according to the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), even though women aren't technically allowed to serve in combat roles, they've been unofficially doing so for quite some time, particularly because in modern warfare, there is no traditional front line.

"Women may not be out kicking doors down, but they are still vulnerable to getting attacked and fighting back with the units of convoys, vulnerable bases, and out on missions," says Tarren Windham, Hospital Corpsman First Class for the Navy and Marines.

Perhaps the most important argument for maintaining gender equality at every level is that it's necessary to truly enable women to have successful careers within the military. "Many of the positions currently banning women are necessary for career development and success," says a SWAN representative. "SWAN has dubbed this the 'brass ceiling' that the combat exclusion policy places over women's advancement in the Armed Services."

Windham agrees that current policies prevent her from taking on certain positions. "Being in the medical field, I serve with the Marines," she says. "Because of the restrictions on women on the front lines there are only so many stations I can go to. There are fewer of what I would consider cool jobs out there because of the restrictions."

Gender Discrimination is Alive and Well

Unfortunately, though, gender equality issues in the military go beyond rules about what positions women are allowed to serve in. The individuals we spoke with were clear that gender discrimination is alive and well, and if the military can't abolish blatant sexism , they won't see equality for many more years.

Windham describes a not-atypical scenario: "Sometimes, before you even check into a command [present orders to superiors after being transferred], they will look at the orders of the incoming personnel and see that it's a woman. The first thing people start talking about is, 'I wonder if she's hot, I wonder if she puts out, I wonder if she's fat.'"

Windham adds that she's actually been told she "shouldn't try and work outside of [her administrative duties] because that's what girls are good at." The problem is pervasive, and is often reinforced by those in upper command-a serious obstacle to overcome if the military as a whole is ever going to progress beyond these views.

Safety and Sexual Harassment

Jeannie Crosby, who served in the Air Force for 20 years, says there's a basic issue that underlies this discrimination: respect-or lack thereof.

One of the major reasons cited for why women can't serve in some roles is the need for separate sleeping quarters, and particularly the worries about women being subject to sexual crimes . And unfortunately, these worries are still all too well-founded.

For Amanda Downs, who was a corporal in the Marines from 2007-2011, this rationale is quite a valid reason for excluding women from certain positions. Downs knows this because when she was in Military Operational Specialty School, she was raped. And she didn't say anything until a couple years after-because one of her superiors told her she would get in more trouble than the man who raped her because she was drinking underage.

Down says that until we can get a better handle on these types of crimes, we simply will not be able to safely integrate women into positions like the infantry.

"If we could progress past the point where we are now in terms of sexual assault and gender discrimination and that type of thing, [we can open positions]," she says. "That's going to have to happen before we try to integrate [women] into the infantry."

Looking Towards the Future

However, despite the struggle for equality, many women still find that they thoroughly enjoy their jobs in the military-and they have continued to serve our country.

Franke is happy to be a part of military branch that has 99% of jobs already open to women and has been surprised at how positive her experience has been. She says, "I didn't know what to expect coming in... and I was surprised with my generation of people. It's been really smooth and I've been extremely accepted and equal."

One thing that everyone we talked to seems to agree on is that we, as young women, can do something for these women. We can make a difference.

Franke advises us to educate ourselves. "Learn more about it. Don't let the military be this quagmire that nobody knows about," she says. "There's all kinds of organizations like the Women's Memorial Foundation in D.C., which opened the first memorial for women in the service. You can support things like that. It's all about education and awareness ." You can also check out sources like SWAN-an organization devoted to empowering servicewomen and veterans.

In addition, it's imperative to let the government know (via letters, phone calls, and protests) that we support changes in policy and we demand something we should have achieved a long time ago-equality. Albeit slowly, the military is moving in the right direction, and it's up to us to make sure they keep moving. These policies affect real women-women who are dedicated enough to fight for our country and defend our rights on a daily basis.

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Women in the Military: Why Can't We Serve on the Front Lines?

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Recently, the military opened 14,000 jobs to women-yet more than 200,000 still remain exclusive to men. We wanted to know what women in the service thought about the decision, so we went straight to the source. Here's what we found out.

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This article has some facts on why women should fight for there own oppinion.

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Prove the army rong and show them all up.

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To show that women can do any thing guys can do.

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We are capable of doing anything we put our hearts to.

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Women are as strong as men.

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Women can fight like guys if they want to.