House Drops Effort to Put New Limits on Women in Combat

Pentagon and Army officials had complained that the language in the previous amendment threatened to restrict too much of the military's flexibility in assigning women to support units in time of war, given the time required to pass legislation on any changes.
Under Pentagon policy dating to 1994, women may not serve in direct ground combat units smaller than brigades, given that smaller units traditionally had greater contact with the enemy. Ground combat units are defined as infantry, armor, Special Forces, field artillery and combat engineers.
Women may hold positions in service, support and transportation units that fulfill such missions as medical care, supply and maintenance for combat units. Given the combat environment in Iraq or Afghanistan, where there is no secure rear area and frontlines constantly shift, these support and service units routinely come under attack.