Defense chief to US Army: open all combat roles to women

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he is ordering the military to open all combat jobs to women, rebuffing requests by the Marine Corps to exclude women from certain front-line combat jobs.

Declaring that “we are a joint force,” Carter says that while moving women into these jobs will present challenges, the military can no longer afford to exclude half of the population from grueling military jobs. He says any man or woman who meets the standards should be able to serve, and gives the armed services 30 days to submit plans to make the historic change.

Carter’s order opens the final 10 percent of military positions to women, and allows them to serve in the military’s most demanding and difficult jobs, including as special operations forces, such as the Army Delta units and Navy SEALs.

— AP