In researching Leon Panetta’s military history, I see (on Wikipedia) where he joined the United States Army in 1964 as a Second Lieutenant, served as an officer in Army Military Intelligence, received the Army Commendation Medal, and was discharged in 1966 as a First Lieutenant. His only military service was for two years during the Viet Nam conflict! I guess this was his foundation of understanding the military and why he decided that women could serve in combat!
Panetta was only doing what he was told to do.