Rep. Susan Davis on Thursday welcomed Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s decision to open all military roles — including combat — to women.
“The secretary has decided it’s in our national security interest to engage the talent and skills of women to reach all levels of professions in the military,”said Davis, who represents central San Diego and serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
Carter announced Thursday that, beginning in January, all military occupations and positions will be open to women, without exception.
“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.”
About 10 percent of military positions — nearly 220,000 total — have remained closed to women, but among the services only the Marine Corps asked to keep some roles for men. Carter said the issues raised by the Marines would be addressed.
“Fully integrating women into all military positions will make the U.S. armed forces better and stronger but there will be problems to fix and challenges to overcome,” he said. “We shouldn’t diminish that.”
