Defense Secretary Ash Carter is expected to announce later Thursday that the military will soon be opening all combat jobs to women, a senior defense official told The Associated Press. After Carter gives the military his order, the armed services will have until Jan. 1 to submit plans, which will begin being put in place April 1.
The historic change comes even as the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has argued that the Marine Corps should be able to exclude women from particular front-line combat jobs, claiming that "mixed-gender units aren't as capable as all-male units," The Associated Press reports.
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