Female soldiers face challenges in U S military decade after bans lifted USA TODAY

Ten years after the Pentagon repealed the ban on women in ground combat positions, female soldiers have risen in the ranks of frontline units.

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The Army, facing its worst recruiting crisis since Vietnam, strains to meet its priorities without more soldiers. Women seizing a more prominent role in combat, some soldiers say, could ease the recruiting crunch.

Yet the intractable problem of sexual assault and harassment in the ranks – reports surged in the Pentagon's most recent survey – threatens progress. One female combat officer recalled during reporting of this story of being told by a male senior officer that she'd have received better reviews if she had slept with her superiors.

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