In a move that marks yet another sweeping change for the military under President Barack Obama's administration, the defense department says it will lift a ban on women serving in combat. Last year, the US military lifted a prohibition on openly gay troops. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to announce the "lifting of the direct combat exclusion rule for women in the military," according to a defense official. This would open hundreds of thousands of combat posts to American women.

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