When women lead soldiers into battle

The ban on women in ground combat, which stood in some form ever since women were first permanently integrated into the U.S. military in 1948, has been lifted and all combat roles are now open to women. Since Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the new policy last December, the American military has also seen women ascend to positions in its highest ranks: Air Force General Lori Robinson became the country’s first female combatant commander, and Admiral Michelle Howard became the first female four-star admiral. It’s possible that a woman will soon, and for the first time, become the commander-in-chief of America’s armed forces.

Yet as much attention as some of these “firsts” have won, a quieter—and in some ways even more dramatic—shift is happening further down the ranks, as women stand poised to take command of combat units for the first time. In April, West Point graduate and Army Captain Kris Griest became the first female infantry officer; 22 other young women have been commissioned as infantry and armor officers following their graduation from West Point, officer candidate, and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) programs across the U.S. These are the combat units that until this year remained off-limits to women in the armed forces. These women still have officer-leader courses to complete before they actually take command of any troops.

But if they do pass, they would be in line to become platoon leaders in battalions that have seen a great deal of combat, and casualties, this past decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.