Pentagon extends maternity and paternity leave for military families.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday a new force-wide policy granting women 12 weeks maternity leave.

"I concluded that twelve weeks of maternity leave across all of the force establishes the right balance between offering a highly competitive leave policy while also maintaining the readiness of our total force," Carter said at a press briefing Thursday.

"Twelve weeks is extremely generous ... it puts us in the very top tiers of American employers," Carter said.