Women Allowed In Combat Under Senate Defense Bill

[Tx4obama]

WASHINGTON -- A measure to let women fight on the front lines is part of the massive defense bill proposed Thursday in the Senate.

The National Defense Authorization Act, unveiled by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), includes a proposal offered last week by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) that would order the military to come up with a plan to send women into battle.

The Defense Department last week began relaxing its ground combat exclusion policy for women, opening some jobs closer to traditional battlefields. The Gillibrand provision would require commanders to make plans to remove the final barriers for woman warriors.

Women constitute about 15 percent of the armed forces, and 144 have died in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 900 have been wounded there. Supporters of opening all war zones to women say such a change would also remove obstacles to women's advancement in the military, where battle experience is a key to promotion.

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Rest of article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/women-combat-senate-defense-bill_n_1543763.html

[Turbineguy]

1. Making the world safer

Last edited Thu May 24, 2012, 07:48 PM - Edit history (1)

for republican men.

?w=300&h=233

[jpbollma]

2. yay

now gays, minorities, and women can all be used as pawns equally! hurray!

[TheCruces]

3. Oh FFS, you might be anti-military, but those in the military should have equal opportunity

[Gormy Cuss]

4. The arguments against women in combat remind me of the arguments against women as firefighters,

police officers, construction workers, etc. As much as I hate to see any service members sent into combat I can't support treating women as incapable of being combat troops.

[TheCruces]

5. Yep, pretty much