DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The head of the Iowa National Guard is hoping to increase the number of women in the ranks. Major General Timothy Orr said Monday that he will sign a pledge to recruit and retain more women as part of campaign by a women’s business group in Iowa.

Orr said that female roles in the military are expanding, noting a recent Army decision to open field artillery jobs to women. He said two women have already enlisted into an artillery unit in northwest Iowa. Currently about 18 percent of Iowa’s Air National Guard and 15 percent of Iowa’s Army National Guard is female. Orr said he’d like to double those numbers.