Panetta says women in combat is a strength

AAA??Jan. 24, 2013?9:59 AM ET
Panetta says women in combat is a strength
By LOLITA C. BALDORBy LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press??

FILE - In a May 9, 2012 file photo, Capt. Sara Rodriguez, 26, of the 101st Airborne Division, carries a litter of sandbags during the Expert Field Medical Badge training at Fort Campbell, Ky. The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service, defense officials said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall, File)

FILE - In a May 9, 2012 file photo, Capt. Sara Rodriguez, 26, of the 101st Airborne Division, carries a litter of sandbags during the Expert Field Medical Badge training at Fort Campbell, Ky. The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service, defense officials said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2012 file photo, female soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division train on a firing range while testing new body armor in Fort Campbell, Ky., in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan. The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after generations of limits on their service, defense officials said Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - This Jan. 19, 2013 file photo shows Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking during a news conference in London. Panetta has removed US military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says letting women serve in combat roles will strengthen the military's ability to win wars.

Panetta says the military is more capable and more powerful when it is open to, quote, "all of the diverse strengths of the American people."

Panetta spoke Thursday at a Pentagon ceremony in remembrance of Martin Luther King, just hours before a news conference at which he plans to announce an end to the traditional exclusion of women from combat roles in the U.S. military.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-24-Women%20in%20Combat/id-5c05038ffb374ba6a53830764192d1e0

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