http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/23/military-to-open-combat-jobs-to-women/?hpt=hp_c1

It’s going to happen, finally. Women will be allowed to serve in combat roles in the U.S. military. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will make the announcement later today in what figures to be the most talked-about policy overhaul since the racial integration of the armed forces in the late 1940s.

Yes, it’s bigger than lifting the ban on gays serving openly, given that everyone knew that gays were serving already.

But here’s the question: Aren’t women serving already in combat roles? Yes they are and they’re doing so with distinction. They’re flying combat aircraft – helicopters and fixed-wing; they driving truck convoys through hostile territory, and some of them have died as a result; they are serving with civil affairs units in combat zones, working with indigenous populations in what was called “pacification” during the Vietnam War.

What Panetta will announce is that women will be allowed to serve in the combat arms: infantry, armor and artillery. And that’s where some disagreement may emerge. I think it’s overblown, given the role that women have been playing already on the battlefield.

Will women be strong enough to walk on patrols carrying rucksacks full of gear? That seems to be the top concern among infantry personnel. What about handling artillery ordnance? And what about their skill at operating an M-1 Abrams battle tank? I understand the concern, but the Pentagon brass now believes female military personnel will rise to the challenge that is being thrown in front of them.

I’ll make this personal point of privilege. A cousin of mine is serving in the Army. She’s been ordered on several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of the Afghanistan tours of late have been of relatively brief duration. She has worked in a civil affairs capacity and has been armed to the teeth while working with civilians trying to build infrastructure in their communities. She also has engaged in fire fights with enemy personnel. I have no doubt, none, that she can hold her own in any male colleague.

OK, I’m biased. I’m immensely proud of my cousin. But my sense is that she is just one of many thousands of women who can carry out any order given them.

Yet another new day is dawning at the Pentagon, and it will result in the strengthening of the world’s most powerful military force.