Uniformed Equality

That’s how quickly it can sometimes happen: At week’s beginning, Obama announced in a speech that he would be doing more to level the occupational playing field for women during his second term. Now, the departing secretary of defense did his part to realize that intention for the military: Women will henceforth be allowed to serve in combat units.

The bizarre sexual inequality in the U.S. armed services appears to be nearing its end. While women had previously been allowed to serve in combat zones, they didn’t enjoy the same opportunities for promotion and higher pay as their male counterparts because they could not get the combat experience required by a 1994 regulation.

Now the U.S. military — better late than never — has finally understood that women can no longer be excluded based on arguments that have long since been proven obsolete. Women already serve in the Army now, and there has been no decline in morale among male soldiers as had been predicted. Neither will anything change in that regard when women finally start serving in combat units. The basics are simple: Female soldiers must have the same opportunities as their male counterparts because they will be sharing the same risks.