DoD opens combat oriented assignments to women

The Department of Defense is gearing up for policy changes that will open more than 14,000 new assignments to women in uniform as of today.

Changes to the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule will be implemented today. The Army will be opening the majority of the new positions with 13,000 assignments available to female soldiers. However, the Marine Corps will also be affected by this change, opening 371 assignments to female Marines, according to February's report to Congress.

"I am so very proud of how far our women have come in both civilian and military positions," said retired Marine Corps Maj. Linda Lacy, former president of the Women Marines Association, Tarheel Chapter. "We have crossed many barriers and each generation has opened new doors for our women. Today's woman is now serving side by side with their male counterpart."

The changes will no longer close occupations to women simply because the positions are co-located with ground combat units. The co-location requirement mainly applies to the Army; any Marine Corps billets that were previously closed due to co-location specifications were also closed because of physical requirements, according to Marine Corps spokeswoman Maj. Shawn Haney.

She said following the implementation of these new policies, the Marine Corps will be collecting data dependent upon female Marines.

"We're going to allow female volunteers to go through Infantry School," Haney said.

Additionally, positions such as a tank mechanic or field artillery operator will be newly open to women at the battalion level in certain direct ground combat units.

Navy Capt. John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman, told reporters the change "doesn't mean that immediately, today, there will be 14,000 women in these jobs. But these billets will now be eligible to be filled by women."