The Pentagon will pay for an active-duty soldier's gender confirmation surgery, NBC News reported.
The infantry soldier, who is a transgender woman — and who received the Combat Infantry Badge in Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in 2003 — was scheduled for surgery Tuesday, the outlet reported.
It would be the first operation of its kind to be approved under a waiver that allows the Pentagon to pay for the procedure, NBC News reported.
Navy Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, head of the Defense Health Agency, on Monday approved the waiver request, NBC News reported.
The surgery comes as the Pentagon deals with President Donald Trump's ban on transgender service members in the military; it will present its guidance to Trump on Feb. 21, 2018 regarding how to implement the ban.
But in the meantime, Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced "interim guidance" that stipulates the federal government will continue to pay for sex-change surgeries for service members at least until March.
The Obama administration allowed transgender individuals to serve openly for the first time — and offered medical services for gender dysphoria treatments and gender reassignment surgery.
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