I’m confident the Defense Department can implement this successfully, because throughout our history, we’ve consistently proven ourselves to be a learning organization. Just look at the last decade and a half. We’ve seen this in war, when we adapted to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions in the wake of 9/11 and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’ve seen it technically, as new capabilities like unmanned systems and cyber capabilities have entered our inventory. And we’ve also seen it institutionally, when we repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In every case, our people have mastered change excellently – and they’ve been able to do so because their leaders have taken care to implement change thoughtfully, always putting the mission and our people first.

We will do the same today. As we integrate women into the remaining combat positions, we must keep in mind the welfare and total readiness of our entire force. And as we focus on the individual contributions that each servicemember makes, we also have to remember that in military operations, teams matter. That’s why it’s important that the services chose to study both individual performance and team performance. And they not only made comparisons to other elite units, like NASA long-duration flight crews and police SWAT teams – they also worked with our international partners to examine how they have integrated women into ground combat roles.

Again, how we implement this is key. As Chairman Dunford has noted, “simply declaring all career fields open is not successful integration.” We must not only continue to implement change thoughtfully, but also track and monitor our progress to ensure we’re doing it right – leveraging the skills and strengths of our entire population. And all of us have a role to play.

As we proceed with full integration of women into combat roles in a deliberate and methodical manner, I am directing that seven guidelines be used to steer this implementation.

First, implementation must be pursued with the clear objective of improved force effectiveness. Leaders must emphasize that objective to all servicemembers, men and women alike.

Second, leaders must assign tasks and jobs throughout the force based on ability, not gender. Advancement must be based on objective and validated standards. A good example of this is SOCOM’s selection processes, which combine objective and subjective criteria in, I quote, a “whole person” concept that includes rigorous physical standards and also “strong moral character, leadership skills, mental agility, problem-solving skills, selflessness, maturity, and humility.”

The third guideline is that for a variety of reasons, equal opportunity likely will not mean equal participation by men and women in all specialties. There must be no quotas or perception thereof. So we will work as a joint force to expertly manage the impacts of what the studies that have been done suggest may be smaller numbers of women in these fields that were previously closed.

Fourth, the studies conducted by the services and SOCOM indicate that there are physical and other differences, on average, between men and women. While this cannot be applied to every man or woman, it is real and must be taken into account in implementation. Thus far, we’ve only seen small numbers of women qualify to meet our high physical standards in some of our most physically demanding combat occupational specialties…and going forward, we shouldn’t be surprised if these small numbers are also reflected in areas like recruitment, voluntary assignment, retention, and advancement in some of these specific specialties.

Fifth, we will have to address the fact that some surveys suggest that some servicemembers, both men and women, have a perception that integration would be pursued at the cost of combat effectiveness. Survey data also suggests that women servicemembers emphatically do not want integration to be based on any considerations other than the ability to perform, and combat effectiveness. In both cases, leaders have to be clear that mission effectiveness comes first…and I’m confident that given the strength of our leaders throughout the ranks, over time these concerns will no longer be an issue.

Sixth, as I noted, both survey data and the judgment of the services’ leadership strongly indicate that, particularly in the specialties that will be opened, the performance of small teams is important, even as individual performance is important.

The seventh guideline has to do with international realities. While we know the United States is a nation committed to using our entire population to the fullest – as are some of our closest friends and allies – we also know that not all nations share this perspective.

Our military has long dealt with this reality, notably over the last 15 years in Iraq and also Afghanistan, and we’ll need to be prepared to do so going forward, as it bears on the specialties that will be opened by this decision.

With all these factors in mind, Chairman Dunford recommended that if we were to integrate women into combat positions, then implementation should be done in a combined manner, by all the services working together. And I agree, and that will be my direction.

Accordingly, I am directing all the military services to proceed to open all military occupational specialties to women 30 days from today – that is, after a 30-day waiting period required by law – and to provide their updated implementation plans for integrating women into these positions by that date. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva, will work with the services to oversee the short-term implementation of this decision, ensure there are no unintended consequences on the joint force, and periodically update me and Chairman Dunford.

Before I conclude, it’s important to keep all of this in perspective. Implementation won’t happen overnight, and while at the end of the day, this will make us a better and stronger force, there still will be problems to fix and challenges to overcome. We shouldn’t diminish that.

At the same time, we should also remember that the military has long prided itself on being a meritocracy, where those who serve are judged not based on who they are or where they come from, but rather what they have to offer to help defend this country. That’s why we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known. And it’s one other way we will strive to ensure that the force of the future remains so, long into the future. Today, we take another step toward that continued excellence.

Thank you.