美國國防部將取消不準女兵執行戰鬥任務的禁令
A top Pentagon official says U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting the ban that keeps women from combat duty in the military.
一名五角大樓高級官員表示，美國國防部長帕內塔將取消軍中女兵不得參與戰鬥的禁令。The official says Panetta will make a formal announcement Thursday, adding that this is something Panetta has wanted to do since becoming defense chief in 2011. He already has opened 50,000 military jobs to women in the last two years.
這名官員說，帕內塔將在星期四正式宣佈取消這一禁令。這位官員還說，這是帕內塔自2011年擔任國防部長後一直想要做的事情。帕內塔在過去兩年中爲女性提供了5萬個軍中的工作機會。The official says Panetta is giving military chiefs until May to draw up plans for implementing the new policy, which could open thousands of frontline combat positions to women in all U.S. military services -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
這位官員表示，帕內塔要軍中各首長到5月時擬出執行這項新政策的計劃。這項新政策將爲美國陸軍、海軍、空軍、海軍陸戰隊以及海岸警衛隊的所有軍中女性提供數千個在前線的戰鬥職位。
In the military, serving in combat positions remains key to career advancement. Women have long said that by not recognizing their real service, the military has unfairly held them back.
在美國軍隊，擔任戰鬥職位一向對軍人升遷至關重要。長期以來，在美國軍隊服役的女性表示由於沒有重視她們實際的服務，而在升遷問題上受到不公平的壓制。Women still may be excluded from some combat jobs in the future and will have to meet strict physical requirements for every job. The Pentagon official says the chiefs of U.S. military services will have three years to study that issue.
軍中女性在未來還可能被排除在某些戰鬥任務外，而且將必須爲每項任務達到嚴格的體能標準。美國國防部官員表示，美國各軍種首長將有3年的時間來研究這個問題。
