Cruz says women shouldn't be subject to draft
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says it's dangerous and immoral to force women into "close combat" roles in the military.
The Texas senator says that including women in a hypothetical military draft is "nuts" and a dangerous example of political correctness. He said he would hate the idea of his daughters being drafted
During last night's Republican debate, several of Cruz's rivals signaled they'd support including women if a draft is reinstated. Some top Army and Marine Corp generals also support the idea.
Army Gen. Mark Milley and Marine Gen. Robert Neller both flatly said that women should be included in the requirement to register for the selective service at age 18. But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Army Acting Secretary Patrick Murphy would only say that the issue should be discussed.
Political leaders overall have so far been reluctant to endorse the draft requirement.
After a lengthy review by the services and the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December ordered all combat jobs open to women, but also vowed that no standards would be lowered to make way for women.
"We have a decision and we're in the process of moving out," Neller said. "We will see where the chips fall. And, again, our hope is that everyone will be successful. But hope is not a course of action on the battlefield."
Milley added that at this point he does not expect that women will be forced into infantry jobs. The Army, he said, doesn't involuntarily send men to the combat post right now and the service is meeting all its needs. But, he said, things could change in the future depending on the military's needs.
Carter's order to allow women to compete for combat posts opens the final 10 percent of military positions to women — a total of about 220,000 jobs. And it allows them to serve in the most demanding and difficult jobs, including as special operations forces, such as the Army Delta units and Navy SEALs.
FOX4News.com staff contributed to this report.