Commission: Send U.S. women into combat

WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- A commission Monday recommended the U.S. military end its policy against women in combat.

The Military Leadership Diversity Commission said the Defense Department should end policies excluding women, and other "barriers and inconsistencies, to create a level playing field" so women get the credit they deserve.

The recommendation was one of 20 made by the commission, led by retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles and established in 2009 by the National Defense Authorization Act.

"We know that (the exclusion) hinders women from promotion," Lyles said in an interview published by American Forces Press Service. "We want to take away all the hindrances and cultural biases.

"If you look at today's battlefield -- in Iraq and Afghanistan -- it's not like it was in the Cold War, when we had a defined battlefield. Women serve -- and they lead -- military security, military police units, air defense units, intelligence units -- all of which have to be right there with combat veterans in order to do the job appropriately."

The combat exclusion policy was established in 1994 and written before women were assigned to ground combat units.