Both women and men should be allowed to serve in combat. As of 2013, women were not allowed to have combat roles that men had in the military. This needed to change, and with the help of the Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, the ban on women serving in ground combat units was repealed and opened more than 250,000 previously closed positions to women. Panetta wanted to ensure that the Defense Department provided a path towards leadership for the generation of women.
According to The New York Times, Leon Panetta’s decision came after he received a letter on January 9, from General Martin E. Dempsey. Dempsey served with the 2nd Cavalry in the United States Army and with the 10th Cavalry at