The secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced they were lifting the 1994 ban on women serving in combat roles.

This opens up hundreds of thousands of positions that females were not allowed to fill in the past.

Women, however, have served in combat roles for quite some time, just not officially.

"As an MP, we were already fully integrated into combat roles. So to me, it was kind of a surprise that the world had not yet acknowledged that women were already fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Sgt. Kristel Rodriguez, a military police officer.

Rodriguez has been in the Army for seven years. A combat role is all she's ever known.

"Those are two wars that don't really have front lines, so, it's foolish for us to think that our women aren't already in harm's way," said Rodriguez.

Just six months ago, the 93rd Military Police Battalion at Fort Bliss lost six military police officers in one incident. One was a woman.

"Specialist Aleckson was a very good soldier, served the Army very well, and her loss was a tremendous hit for the company and the battalion because we lost a soldier, not because we lost a female soldier," said Lt. Col. Richard Ball, commander of the 93rd Military Police Battalion.

Ball said women are asked to do the same tasks and perform to the same standards as their male counterparts.
He's supportive of the integration.

"Like everything that the Army does, particularly when it's groundbreaking, I think it'll take time. That's one thing that we need to be sure of, that this may not happen tomorrow," said Ball.

First Lt. Courtney Franks, another military police officer feels the announcement isn't a huge change.

"We have females that go out on combat support missions doing the same exact things that infantry units are doing," said Franks.

And like her fellow MP comrades, she believes certain standards should be made and met, by anyone looking to seek the new roles.

"Anytime we go through a transition or a change, where something different comes along, there's always gonna be that skepticism of whether it's going to work," said Rodriguez.

"It is amazing what the American soldier can do once they put their mind to it, male or female," said Ball.

Military installations have until 2016 to fully integrate.