Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is reportedly eliminating the military's ban on women serving in combat.Charlie Dunlap Jr.Professor of the practice, Duke Law School, and associate director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security(919) 613-7233; dunlap@law.duke.edu.http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/dunlap Dunlap specializes in warfare policy and strategy, cyber-warfare, military commissions, counterinsurgency, nuclear issues and air power; former deputy judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force; retired from military in June 2010 as a major general. Quote:"Secretary Panetta's decision to lift the ban on women serving in certain combat roles makes sense so long as there is no lowering of the physical or other standards required for the new positions."No doubt the secretary realizes that despite the current restrictions, women found themselves in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and fought with honor and effectiveness. Now is the right time to take the next step."At the same time, giving the services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women is also the right decision because it is vitally important to ensure that there are no unintended consequences that would erode our military capability, or otherwise increase the risk to those young people we send in harm's way."The U.S. already has the finest military in the world, so as we work to make it even better, we need to ensure that we fully understand all the implications and consequences, and have the courage and integrity to reverse course if what seems to be a great idea is proven otherwise."
