The official US MC policy is that females may not serve in the Infantry, Armor, or Artillery units. That policy has been altered to allow Female Marines to accompany patrols into the Afghan countryside in order to communicate with the local men and women in ways that local customs do not allow their male counterparts to accomplish.

Cpl. Christina Oliver, center, and other female Marines attached to a male battalion patrolled recently in Helmand Province.

From: New York Times

MARJA, Afghanistan — They expected tea, not firefights. But the three female Marines and their patrol were shot at late on a recent day, when a burst of Kalashnikov rifle fire came from a nearby compound. The group hit the ground, crawled into a ditch and aimed its guns across the fields of cotton and corn.
more from NYT

Audio Interview with VMI grad, Capt. Emily Naslund. CO of the Female Engagement Team in Helmund Province Afghanistan.

From: CNN Blog

Naslund and some of the other 39 women of the patrol are featured in a recent article by The New York Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller. They patrol various areas, including Marja, Afghanistan. “You’ve got 19- and 20-year-olds walking around in the world’s most dangerous place, knowing what could happen to them, and they’re willing to do that anyway, and they’re willing to do that with passion,” Naslund told the Times. This mission, she added, “is going to be the highlight of my life.”

More on female warriors in Afghanistan from NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/world/asia/30marines.html