Should Women Hold Combat Positions? The Combat Exclusion Act has addressed this issue since the 1940s. As time passes, the issue remains. The military has increased the percentage of women allowed to be enlisted and commissioned into the military services and increased the positions assigned to them (Matthews, Ender, Laurence, & Rohall, 2009). Keenan asserts that "women served with distinction during...the Revolutionary War...as volunteer nurses and were only occasionally in the direct line of fire...four nurses evacuating 42 patients while the Germans bombed their hospital campaign…” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) p. . 21.The most recent debate calls into question the commitment of women to combat. What distinguishes certain positions as acceptable while others are not? Who has the authority to approve exceptions, and what exceptions were made? On May 13, 2011, a bill introduced before the House of Representatives addressed the issue of "repealing the policy of exclusion from ground combat for female members" (HR 1928). Political Issues or Influences Volunteer force implemented under President Nixon. "In February 1988, the Department of Defense (DoD) codified the combat exclusion policy by adopting the 'risk rule'", (The DoD Combat Exclusion Policy), p. 21, 22. The change in the role of women in the civilian population has forced a review of their presence in the armed forces. These roles were revised after the entry into force of the exclusion law in “1967, when statutory assets and rank limitations were removed” (…GOA, p. 4) as well as in 1978, when the positions available for women have been expanded (…GOA). In 1992 and 1993, when the Defense Authorization Acts were implemented, Congress revoked the ban on female assignments to combat aircraft...and in January 1994, the "risk rule" was rescinded." (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy), page 22. With the 1994 change in the "Risk Rule," assignments were available for women from all services to participate in all available positions. Exceptions to “assignments to units below the brigade level whose primary mission is direct ground combat” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy), page 22 (ibid), have been implemented. H.R. 1928 sought to title its bill "Fair and Equal Rights of Women in the Military." Service Act” (HR. 1928), as more than 250,000 women had already been deployed to combat zones in the Middle East and by that time, 137 women had lost their lives in combat (HR.. 1928).