Reuters –Top Pentagon officials are calling for an end to the military’s historical ban on allowing women to serve in submarines.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advocated the policy change in written Congressional testimony distributed to reporters on Friday.

“I believe we should continue to broaden opportunities for women,” Admiral Mullen said. “One policy I would like to see changed is the one barring” their service aboard submarines.

The Navy secretary, Ray Mabus, said he was “moving out aggressively on this.”

Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in a statement, “I am very comfortable addressing integrating women into the submarine force.”

Women account for about 15 percent of the more than 336,000 members of the Navy and can serve on its surface ships. But critics have argued that submarines are different, pointing to cramped quarters where some crews share beds in shifts.

Nancy Duff Campbell, an advocate for expanding the role of women in the armed forces, said it would be easy to resolve problems with so-called hot-bunking.

“They say, ‘How could we have the women sleeping in the same area as men?’ ” said Ms. Campbell, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center. “But they already separate where the officers sleep from the enlisted, so it’s not like it can’t be done.”

Allowing women on submarines would be another step in expanding their role in the military. Last year, a woman was promoted to the rank of four-star general for the first time.