
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994                   TAG: 9402170134
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CEREMONIAL GUARD OPENS RANKS TO WOMEN

To the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, tradition is not measured in decades or centuries, but in inches and seconds.

Since 1948, the U.S. Army's Old Guard regiment has performed the vigil at the tomb, and dozens of other ceremonies, with little change - timeless salutes to some of the nation's most hallowed traditions. But a new era is coming.

Joining an effort to expand the role of women in the military, top Army officials have approved a plan that will make women eligible to join ceremonies that until now were restricted to male soldiers: guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns, guiding the horse-drawn hearses at funerals and taking part in precision lines of soldiers - known as cordons - that greet foreign leaders.

by CNB