>Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today that beginning in January 2016, all military occupations and positions will be open to women, without exception.
>For the first time in U.S. military history, as long as they qualify and meet specific standards, the secretary said women will be able to contribute to the Defense Department mission with no barriers at all in their way.
>“They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat," Carter added. "They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that was previously open only to men."
>Though more than 111,000 positions had opened to women in uniform since 2013 until today's announcement, Carter said, about 10 percent of military positions – nearly 220,000 – had remained closed to women. These included infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and some special operations units, the secretary said.
>Over the past three years, he added, senior civilian and military leaders across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command have studied the integration of women into these positions.
>“Last month I received their recommendations [and] the data, studies and surveys on which they were based regarding whether any of those remaining positions warrant a continued exemption from being opened to women,” Carter said, noting that the Army, Navy, Air Force and Socom said none of the positions warranted exemptions.
>The Marine Corps asked for a partial exemption in areas that included infantry, machine gunner, fire support reconnaissance and others, he added, “[but] we are a joint force and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force.”
>Equal opportunity likely will not mean equal participation by men and women in all specialties, and there will be no quotas. Studies conducted by the services and Socom indicate that on average there are physical and other differences between men and women, and implementation will take this into account.
http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/632536/carter-opens-all-military-occupations-positions-to-women