US to train women for combat jobs: Report
Iran Press TV
Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:35PM GMT
Under a proposed military deal, women enrolled in the US Armed Forces could start training for combat and special operations jobs, a report says.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the major branches of the military to move ahead with a program to start training women as Army Rangers by mid-2015 and as Navy SEALs in 2016, The Associated Press said on Tuesday.
The projected plan will include one common standard for men and women for each job, requiring changes to the physical and mental requirements that men and women will have to meet.
The changes will enable them to qualify for certain infantry, armor, commando and other front-line positions across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, the report outlined.
The plan will require the approval of senior military leaders, with a push to bring in senior women into Special Forces to encourage the younger, lower-ranking women to enter the programs.
This is while Washington faces a crisis due to the rising number of sexual assaults in the country’s armed forces.
Earlier this month, Senator John McCain told the top US military chiefs he could not advise women to join the service with a sexual-assault scourge the military has not contained.
Unwanted sexual contact complaints involving military personnel rose 37 percent to 26,000 cases in 2012 from 19,000 a year before, according to a newly-released report by the Pentagon.
GMA/KA
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