Previously, women in the military were limited in the jobs they could do. Female servicemembers were not allowed to serve in armor, infantry, reconnaissance and a few special operations units. That left about 220,000 combat positions that were exclusively for men, according to CNN. However, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford recently announced that women would be allowed to take on these roles in service.
"Moving forward, my focus is to lead the full integration of women in a manner that maintains our joint war fighting capability, ensures the health and welfare of our people, and optimizes how we leverage talent across the Joint Force," Marine Gen. Dunford, said in his speech.
Though there has been some resistance since the chairman's announcement on Dec. 3, most are in favor of the military's new inclusion policy. USA Today reported that the Department of Defense gave all branches until Dec. 31 to incorporate the new policy.
Many of the policymakers acknowledge that full acceptance of this change will be an on-going process over the coming years, but they agree that it was the right move to bring the military into the 21st century.