And women will be subject to the same standard and rules that men will.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," he said.Two Democratic members of the armed services panels welcomed Carter's decision."Women already serve in combat roles for the armed forces of a few developed nations, including Marine Tools Factory Canada and Israel, but officials have said demand from women for such jobs in most NATO countries is very low.President Barack Obama called the move a "historic step forward," saying it would "make our military even stronger.General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Marine commandant, said he had given Carter his best advice on the issue and would now fully integrate women "in a manner that maintains our joint warfighting capability.

The waiting period enables Congress to review the decision and raise any objections. Senator ******sten Gillibrand said it would "strengthen our armed forces" and Representative Niki Tsongas called it a "long overdue" move that would eliminate some of the barriers to advancement that women face in the military.He acknowledged the decision could lead to more debate over whether women would have to register for the draft, an issue he said was already under litigation."They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. But some other lawmakers welcomed the move. A restriction on such roles was seen as increasingly out of place during a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan in which women were often in harm's way.

The US military will let women serve in all combat roles, Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Thursday in a historic move striking down gender barriers in the armed forces.Carter said most of the services favoured opening all jobs to women, but the Marine Corps had sought a partial exception for roles such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support reconnaissance and others.Carter's decision comes nearly three years after the Pentagon first instructed the military to open all positions to qualified women, including front-line combat roles."People are assigned to missions, tasks and functions according to need as well as their capabilities," he said."As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before," Carter told a Pentagon news conference.Since the Pentagon directive in 2013, the services have been examining whether women should be excluded from any military positions.