US Women to Be Officially Allowed Combat Roles

In a joint decision, the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Panetta, announced that women will no longer be barred from serving in combat roles.

The 1994 ruling, that they couldn't serve in combat, will slowly be overturned, throughout 2013, as women are gradually allowed to serve in any role.

Women have seen combat, despite the ruling, due to the nature of war.

One hundred and thirty-nine women have been killed in combat, since the 1994 ruling, and over eight hundred women have been wounded in combat, during Afghanistan and Iraq.

For the US, women have been officially serving in military branches since World War I, and having been dying in combat since then.

Many other countries already allow women to serve in combat roles, Israel being the most noticeable.