Today, a defense official has told the media that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is giving the okay for women to serve on active duty in several positions in combat.
On Thursday, Secretary Panetta will announce that the exclusion of women in ground combat will be eliminated. Previously, women below the level of brigade would be excluded from direct combat.
Keep in mind that will not take effect immediately and is only really opening up review and study of the situation. But, we are moving to the point of having women as boots on the ground soldiers in combat.
There are over 200,000 women currently in the armed forces who may be affected, with roughly 5,000 being Marines.
Because this is only a preliminary step toward female infantrymen, for lack of a better word, women will not be in direct combat forces until at least 2015.
In fact, this will even allow the branches of the armed forces to develop guidelines and even exceptions to this rule.
People are probably on both sides of this. It's not been an American ideal to see its women on the front lines being killed in combat. Is the United States ready for this?
Like it or not, there is something a little disconcerting at the thought of our daughters coming home in coffins. No, this is not making it seem that sons are different. Civilization seems to have always held women and girls in a different light.
It should also be noted that women have already been serving, if not at the front lines, certainly combat areas. There will just be more direct involvement of women in combat.
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