Hagel: Why Shouldn't Women Have Same Combat Opportunity As Men?

Speaking on Offutt Air Force Base June 20, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel asked why women ought not have the same opportunity at combat as men.

According to CNS News, Hagel made these comments in response to a question over how he felt about “putting females on the front lines of combat.”

Here are Hagel’s exact words:

I think everyone understands that this is the right thing, we can’t lower standards. We have high standards. Our country has high standards. Our military has always had higher standards. And so it’s not a matter of lowering standards to assist women to get into combat positions–women don’t want that, you don’t want that–and I think to find the right balance of implementation to allow women to move into these new opportunities and new positions if they want, if they’re qualified, if they can do the job.

And why shouldn’t they have those opportunities? Why shouldn’t they have the same opportunities as men do on these?

And so that’s essentially my point of view on this. We’re working toward that. 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins