DoD to issue overdue report on women in combat - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

DoD to issue overdue report on women in combat

The Pentagon is planning to release a long-overdue report about the role of women in combat later this week, according to officials familiar with the report.

Congress ordered the review after a blue-ribbon panel recommended eliminating all remaining combat exclusions that mainly prevent women from serving in infantry and other ground combat units and career fields.

The report on the controversial topic was due last April, but the Pentagon’s personnel and readiness directorate delayed its release. The report may result in policy changes that clear the way for women to move into some jobs that have traditionally been limited to men.

Critics say the combat exclusion is outdated and does not reflect the ground-level conditions of today’s asymmetrical fights such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the line between combat troops and support units is blurred. Many women, particularly in military police and security forces jobs, have engaged in what amounts to direct ground combat in those wars.