This change, to have women in roles on the front lines in the Army is obviously big news here in Central Texas. For people on and off Fort Hood, it's the talk of the town. So how do Army Veterans in Killeen feel about the change?
"WWII, Korea, we had the females nurses within a mile of the front lines," said Hank Haun, a Army Veteran who spent four tours in Vietnam."And they served in the e-vac hospitals so there was no reason not to have them integrated into the full Army," he said.
Haun has always supported women in combat. He says it's been a fight since the beginning. "When they integrated them, they were complaining then about not being opened up to all the MOS's," he said.
MOS means Military Occupation Specialties. They're jobs in the Army, and now about 230,000 jobs have opened up because of women like Major Mary Hegar. She's one of five women who fought for their right to serve in combat roles in the Army.
"The biggest impact immediately I think will happen is the talent drain, maybe will stop. So the people who you know who are best and brightest aren't gong to be encouraged to leave and pursue careers elsewhere because they now have these opportunities," she said.
It's a fight that even many men are glad to see won, by women. "I think all it is recognizing the fact that they're capable of doing it and they deserve the right to have that option," said Army Veteran Brian Cornell.
And when asked, women are just as tough as men? Haun replied, "oh yeah, in a lot of cases they're a lot tougher.
The Veterans that KCEN News spoke with Thursday say the army is always changing but this change, finally allows women to get the equality they deserve.
