The Pentagon is scheduled to announce a plan today that would allow women to train for military special forces units like the Navy SEALs and the Army Rangers.
The plan, obtained by the Associated Press, makes thousands of combat jobs open to women who meet the physical and mental standards for those jobs.
Women would be able to begin training for the Army Ranger program by mid-2015, and the Navy SEALs program in 2016.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said earlier this year, according to the New York Times, that banning women from certain combat jobs has added to a sexually hostile environment for females in the military:
“I believe it’s because we’ve had separate classes of military personnel, at some level. Now, you know, it’s far more complicated than that, but when you have one part of the population that is designated as warriors and another part that’s designated as something else, I think that disparity begins to establish a psychology that in some cases led to that environment. I have to believe, the more we can treat people equally, the more likely they are to treat each other equally.”
What do you think of allowing women to train for the SEALs and Rangers? Have your say in our comments section!
