Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today that the military will no longer discriminate against transgender troops, allowing them to serve in the armed forces openly.

“This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force,” said Carter. “We’re talking about talented Americans who are serving with distinction or who want the opportunity to serve. We can’t allow barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications prevent us from recruiting and retaining those who can best accomplish the mission."

A study by the RAND Corporation, commissioned by the Pentagon, "found that out of the approximately 1.3 million active-duty service members, an estimated 2,450 were transgender, and that every year about 65 service members would seek to make a gender transition.," reports The New York Times.

Most of these transgender troops were forced into staying silent about transitioning and their gender identity, much like the private lives of gay, lesbian and bisexual service members before "don't ask, don't tell" was lifted in 2011.

Sue Fulton, the President of SPARTA, the largest organization of actively-serving transgender military members today responded to the Pentagon's decision:

“Secretary Carter today fulfills his promise that every American who is qualified to serve will be allowed to serve. The thousands of transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen – and their commanders – have one less burden on their shoulders today. We are grateful to the military and civilian leaders in the Department of Defense who worked so hard to get this right.”

By October 1, the Pentagon will have a training handbook that deals with medical protocol and "guidance for changing a service member’s gender in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment System (DEERS)," Carter said in his announcement. "At this point, the services will be required to provide medically necessary care and treatment to transgender service members according to the medical protocol and guidance, and may begin changing gender markers in DEERS."

There were last minute concerns from high-ranking military officials that the "open inclusion of transgender troops could potentially harm the military’s readiness and effectiveness in combat," but according to The New York Times, "several studies have reached the opposite conclusion, however, finding that lifting the ban is unlikely to have any appreciable effect on the readiness of the armed forces."