Women in military to serve on front lines in combat, including Navy SEALS and Army's Delta Force

Women in all branches of the military soon will have unprecedented opportunities to serve on the front lines of the nation's wars.

Leon Panetta, in one of his last acts as President Obama's defense secretary, is preparing to announce the policy change, which would open hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.  [snip]  (image FILE: Nov. 29, 2012: Lt. Brandy Soublet on the Marine base 29 Palms in Southern California. Image provided by the United States Marine Corps. (AP)

Some front-line military roles may open to women as soon as this year. Assessments for others, such as special operations forces, including Navy SEALS and the Army's Delta Force, may take longer.

A defense official told the Associated Press that the military chiefs must report back to Panetta with their initial implementation plans by May 15. The announcement on Panetta's decision is not expected until Thursday, so the official spoke on condition of anonymity.

   (continue at Fox News)

Comments

[Susan Benton]

ANOTHER DOPEY IDEA - a lot of people will be hurt or killed by this stupidity. And some of them will be women. The Israelis tried it years ago, and what happened is the men tried to protect the women from harm. It is hard-wired into the male of the species to protect women - I know the women's groups and the lefties hate that but it hapens to be true.

[R.J. Godlewski]

I apologize for sounding sexist, but do not women suffer from, um, physiological instances that will trump their ability to fight for days on end like the SEALS are trained to do?

The Soviets/Russians had women serving in a wide variety of roles including female snipers in WWII that were amongst the best of their profession, but they kept them out of the elite units...and probably for a reason.

[Grouch at Right Truth]

How they gonna carry those damn telephone poles and wallow in that icy cold water for all those hours? Most strong, physically and mentally fit men don't make the cut.

[Susan Benton]

LIBTARDS never let reality interfer with the looney agenda. They will just lower the bar for everyone, that way men who could't make it into combat units before now have a better chance.

Why not? After all the bar for being president has been lowered.

[R.J. Godlewski]

I saw Megyn Kelly on Fox today debating the issue and I wish somone would slap her.

I served aboard a ship when women were first allowed to sea (non-combatant ships then) and they DO cause chaos -- at least for the first couple of years.

So much for our military. RIP. The ONLY women serving effectively in combat units are terrorists and guerrillas. Nice company.