WASHINGTON, Jan 24: Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, in lifting a ban on women serving in combat, said women have become integral to the US military's success and have shown they are willing to fight and die alongside their male counterparts.    

“The time has come for our policies to recognise that reality,” Panetta said on Thursday at a Pentagon news conference with Gen Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.    Panetta said that not all women will be able to meet the qualifications to be a combat soldier.    “But everyone is entitled to a chance,” he said.    He said the qualifications will not be lowered, and with women playing a broader role, the military will be strengthened.

President Barack Obama supports the Pentagon's decision and believes the country should continue to remove “unnecessary gender-based barriers to service, “White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

More than 150 women have been killed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in support roles. The decision to lift the ban on them serving in combat presents a daunting challenge to top military leaders who will now have to decide which jobs, if any, should be open only to men.    Women comprise about 14 per cent of the 1.4 million active military personnel. More than 280,000 women have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or to jobs in neighbouring nations in support of the wars. Of the more than 6,600 US service members who have been killed, 152 have been women.    Panetta said that his visits to Afghanistan and Iraq to see US forces in action demonstrated to him that women should have a chance to perform combat duties if they wish, and if they can meet the qualifications.

“Our military is more capable, and our force is more powerful, when we use all of the great diverse strengths of the American people,” Panetta said earlier on Thursday at a Pentagon ceremony in remembrance of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Panetta is expected to step down as Pentagon chief sometime in February. Republican former Sen Chuck Hagel has been nominated as his successor, and his Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan 31.

“Every person in today's military has made a solemn commitment to fight, and if necessary to die, for our nation's defence,” he said. “We owe it to them to allow them to pursue every avenue of military service for which they are fully prepared and qualified. Their career success and their specific opportunities should be based solely on their ability to successfully carry out an assigned mission. Everyone deserves that chance.”—AP