UPDATE 1-U.S. military opens all combat roles to women

© Reuters. UPDATE 1-U.S. military opens all combat roles to women

(Adds details about Marine Corps objections, quotes)
By David Alexander and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Women can compete for all U.S.
military jobs, including front-line combat posts, Defense
Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday, overriding Marine Corps
objections in a historic move to strike down gender barriers in
the armed services.
"As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will
now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not
before," Carter told a Pentagon news conference.
"They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead
infantry soldiers into combat. 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," he said.
Carter said the opening to women would take place following
a 30-day waiting period required by law, after which women will
be integrated into new roles in a "deliberate and methodical
manner."
During the waiting period, the military services will
finalize plans for integrating women into the new positions, he
said.
The move comes nearly three years after the Pentagon first
eliminated its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles
and began a process that would let women compete for 220,000
additional military jobs.
Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted a ban in force in
2013 on women in front-line combat roles, a restriction seen as
increasingly out of place during a decade of war in Iraq and
Afghanistan in which women were increasingly in harm's way.
Women represented about 2 percent of U.S. casualties in Iraq
and Afghanistan, with some 300,000 deploying to the conflict
zones.
Carter said most of the services favored opening all jobs to
women, but the Marine Corps had sought a partial exception for
roles such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support
reconnaissance and others.
Carter said he considered the Marine Corps' request and
believed its concerns could be addressed with careful
implementation of the decision.
"We are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision
which applies to the entire force," he said.
Women already serve in combat roles for the armed forces of
a few developed nations, including Canada and Israel, but
officials say demand from women for such jobs in NATO nations is
very low.