Republican Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Republican Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, after announcing Hagel's nomination in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
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President Barack Obama listens in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, where he announced that he is nominating Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, center, as the new CIA director; and former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, right, as the new defense secretary.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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President Barack Obama and his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, left, listen as the president's choice for CIA Director, Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, right, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, where the president made the announcement. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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FILE - In this June 26, 2008 file photo, then Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., speaks on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. President Barack Obama may round out his new national security leadership team next week, with a nomination for defense secretary expected and a pick to lead the CIA possible. Hagel is the front-runner for the top Pentagon post. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)
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President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden leave the podium after Obama made a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as he announces his nomination of Kerry as next secretary of state in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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President Barack Obama enters the Roosevelt Room with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., his choice to be the next Secretary of State, before he makes his announcement at the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2012 file photo, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., leaves a closed-door briefing on the investigation of the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. President Obama will nominate Sen. John Kerry as his next secretary of state, a senior administration official says, making the first move in a sweeping overhaul of his national security team heading into a second term. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., talks on a phone in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 in Washington. President Obama will nominate Sen. John Kerry as his next secretary of state, a senior administration official says, making the first move in a sweeping overhaul of his national security team heading into a second term. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Obama says he won't hesitate on women in combat
WASHINGTON (
AP) — President
Barack Obama says he would have no hesitation ordering women into combat and explained that, as a practical matter, they're already serving that role.
Obama, who spoke with CBS shortly before Sunday's Super Bowl game, was asked about the recent order ending the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat.
Obama said women soldiers are already vulnerable to attack and they've been wounded and killed carrying out their jobs. He said they are taking great risks should not be prevented from advancing in their careers.
The change overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units, and is expected to open up more than 230,000 combat positions that have been off limits to women.
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