Been There, Done That: Pentagon Formally Opens Combat to Women

  • Share
  • Read Later

While Pentagon regulations have long barred women from close-in combat, like infantry and armor units, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is announcing the beginning of the end of those rules on Thursday. Here are some photographs of Marines assigned to a female engagement team – created to interact with Afghan women — highlighting the fact that women in uniform have been bumping up those “combat exclusions” for years.

(MORE: Women In Combat: Shattering the “Brass Ceiling”)

(MORE: The Combat Exclusion Policy: Under Attack)

More Photography from Time