Pentagon Ban is Lifted

        Over the weekend I saw the thrilling, action packed movie, Zero Dark Thirty. As most of you know this movie is about Osama Bin Laden and how he was captured. While the whole movie was beyond intriguing, the part that struck me the most was that it was a WOMAN who discovered the locations of Bin Laden.
       While I was thrilled to learn that it was a woman who figured out the 10 year long puzzle of Bin Laden, I was skeptical to the fact on why I did not know this sooner. It could just be because of my lack of attention to the news, however, my mom, a pretty heavy news follower, did not know it was a woman until I recently told her. In that case, was it because of the lack of coverage about her?
     Whatever the case may be it reminds me of the lift of the Pentagon Ban that occurred this past week. The Pentagon Ban, "prohibited woman from serving in special operations, or fighting on the front line".  This ban limited the career options for many woman involved in helping to defend our country. And even when woman did engage in warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan the military, "did not officially count their actions as combat, and their battle field experience went unrecognized". Many woman were left with the feelings of anger, rage, or just pure disappointment.
         Clearly lifting the Pentagon Ban is heading in the right direction towards gender equality. Yet, I still wonder why the ban created in 1994 was lifted now, over 15 years later? Or why it took so long for it to be lifted? What convinced Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta  to lift it in the first place? And lastly, how do you think this change in rules, that allows woman to fight in combat and advance in their careers, will affect the military?