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A landmark first. The USMC now has a female infantry officer. Several females have attempted the 13 week training course at Quantico.

All except this lady who will remain anonymous until her graduation ceremony have failed.


10% of students fail on the first day. Standards have not dropped and the course is considered rugged by participants.

She will be assigned to the Ist Marine Division in Camp Pendleton.

Well done indeed.
 

Cernunnos

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If the standards have indeed been kept the same for her then congratulations are in order, quite an impressive feat.
 

dusaboss

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If the standards have indeed been kept the same for her then congratulations are in order, quite an impressive feat.

I hope standards are same all congratulations and thumbs up to that girl. But knowing he western (our) world functioning it won't be long until they make different rules and standards for girls.

Ironically, all that in name of gender inequality :). Then they gona give push in the back to transgender person etc .... etc.
 

Cernunnos

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I hope standards are same all congratulations and thumbs up to that girl. But knowing he western (our) world functioning it won't be long until they make different rules and standards for girls.

Ironically, all that in name of gender inequality :). Then they gona give push in the back to transgender person etc .... etc.
Women already have to do less than Men to get in the British Army and the Australian government have forced their military to take on more women than men. I am biased of course, since I don't agree with women in the military, but if they are going to join they should have to do everything a man would have to.
I'm not going to discuss the last line, since I have nothing nice to say about it.
 

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You definitely are biased and have some VERY strong opinions for a 19 yr old boy! When you have had a female medic, running through gunfire or IED strike to get to your injured guys, I think you would change your views! I don't agree with women in teeth arms but I have had the honour of serving alongside some badass Sappers and Medics who put a lot of guys to shame.
I believe in this case, no standards were lowered and she kicked ass!
 

Cernunnos

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Not entirely sure what being 19 has to do with the discussion but my views will never change. I have few qualms about them being Medics and such but the push to get them into Infantry roles will never sit well with me.
If the standards are exactly the same then fine but I believe if your women are being shot at something has gone horribly wrong.
 

dusaboss

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You definitely are biased and have some VERY strong opinions for a 19 yr old boy! When you have had a female medic, running through gunfire or IED strike to get to your injured guys, I think you would change your views! I don't agree with women in teeth arms but I have had the honour of serving alongside some badass Sappers and Medics who put a lot of guys to shame.

Hmm. Telling someone that he is "definitely biased" toward genders and then criticize him for having a opinion with 19 y ... doesn't really work in same sentence. Don't you think? ;)
 

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I've said it before, there are women who are capable and should be allowed to do the job. All double standards do is undermine the very capable women that do cut the mustard.
 

RoninCon

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Hmm. Telling someone that he is "definitely biased" toward genders and then criticize him for having a opinion with 19 y ... doesn't really work in same sentence. Don't you think? ;)
Of course it does because unlike him, I have had the privilege of serving in some shit places with these very same women he is saying shouldn't be there.

I pointed out his bias towards gender and you counter with the fact I called him an opinionated 19yr old boy and then saying they don't go together. Thanks for your opinion though and for derailing yet another thread!

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Cernunnos

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Of course it does because unlike him, I have had the privilege of serving in some shit places with these very same women he is saying shouldn't be there.

I pointed out his bias towards gender and you counter with the fact I called him an opinionated 19yr old boy and then saying they don't go together. Thanks for your opinion though and for derailing yet another thread!

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I feel I may have given the wrong impression with what I said so I would like to clarify before I'm crucified as a misogynist.
I respect the Women who serve and I have no doubt they serve with excellence.
I am just uncomfortable with sending Women places where they could be killed, or worse captured.
 
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Just a thought for Wanabees. The course started with 131 Marines. 88 passed but wait for it.............

She completed swimming tests all infantry training, tactics, sleep deprivation and a LOAD CARRY of 152lbs in kit over distance ! 9 MILES.
 

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Women already have to do less than Men to get in the British Army and the Australian government have forced their military to take on more women than men.
I am biased of course, since I don't agree with Women in the military, but if they are going to join they should have to do everything a Man would have to.
I'm not going to discuss the last line, since I have nothing nice to say about it.
It would be naive to think all male soldiers are better than all female soldiers, they aren't, there are plenty of women serving who could always out soldier yourself, even in an infantry role, at 19 you clearly have a lot to learn.
 

Cernunnos

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It would be naive to think all male soldiers are better than all female soldiers, they aren't, there are plenty of women serving who could always out soldier yourself, even in an infantry role, at 19 you clearly have a lot to learn.
I never said that Surf, I said I don't like the idea of women fighting. Not because I think they are bad at it but because I don't think they should have to. Men should fight and women should be protected.
I can't and won't budge on such a topic so I would prefer we dropped this for now as this is a thread to celebrate someone's graduation as a USMC Officer and not one to discuss philosophy.
 

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I never said that Surf, I said I don't like the idea of Women fighting.
Not because I think they are bad at it but because I don't think they should have to.

That's really something they should decide themselves.
 
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Infanteering is a young man's game. Same for the ladies. With the massive loads they sometimes have to carry, in later years, say 40s' the bones begin to ache and protest ! Mine do but of course I am very young still !
 

USMCRET

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A landmark first. The USMC now has a female infantry officer. Several females have attempted the 13 week training course at Quantico.

All except this lady who will remain anonymous until her graduation ceremony have failed.


10% of students fail on the first day. Standards have not dropped and the course is considered rugged by participants.

She will be assigned to the Ist Marine Division in Camp Pendleton.

Well done indeed.

The huge difference is that this young Female Officer actually made it on her own, the standards for a Marine Corps Infantry Officer were not modified in the slightest. Sure there have been women whom have graduated as Rangers in the US Army, there is no comparison here. The Army caved into political correctness decades ago by integrating their basic training, the Marine Corps refused to do the same, period. So I say to 2ndLt X, Semper Fidelis Ma am
 

dusaboss

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I mean... again that debate about women in army. Ok, I will tell you now!

Yes ! Women should serve FFL. But they should have separate barracks, separate criteria for getting in and separate training program from men.

After all, women already served legion very well for many, many years now.

I don't see reason why FFL should not give these hard working woman well deserved place in organization , unit and pension.

:) :cool: :)
 

sig2340

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I know three women, two my age (approaching 60) and one in her mid-20s who I have no qualms in saying could become Marine infantry officers (one of those my age was a Marine NCO when we dated).

Physically and mentally tough doesn't begin to describe them. The Marine NCO ran a marathon with a broken bone in her left foot. She was an Amazon warrior.

So to the woman who graduated the IOC, GOOD JOB!!
 

Kermit Q

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Infanteering is a young man's game. Same for the ladies. With the massive loads they sometimes have to carry, in later years, say 40s' the bones begin to ache and protest ! Mine do but of course I am very young still !

As a woman, who was in the military and spent twenty years, after getting out of the Army, working in commercial roofing and sheet metal, all man’s work, I thought that I might chime in. When I arrived at my permanent duty company, the first question the CO asked me was, ‘Do you want’ and I quote, 'women's work' or to go do your job?’ Which was Multi-channel Communications. I replied that I had not just spent nearly a year training to be a soldier so I could wear a skirt and pumps and ride a desk. So, off I marched, to my supposed doom, with the CO’s blessing. It obviously isn’t the Infantry, but it was very labor intensive and my section Sgt. loved to train, so we were always out working on something. I was only 5’-5â€￾ and maybe ninety-five pounds soaking wet, by far the smallest one in my company and only one of eight women, the rest pushed paper.

After I got out, I took up Welding, but had to stop the training when I was pregnant with my first child. Once I was ready to go back to work, because of my welding training, I hired onto the commercial roofing company. By then I was around 120 pounds. I spent the days working with material and equipment that weighed as much as I did, up ladders, across roofs, into and out of trucks ect. Plus, you have your safety harness, rope and about fifty-five pounds of tools and you are kneeling, squatting, bent over and crawling around all day. Humping eighty pounds of gear up a five story ship’s ladder is a pain in the a**. We typical did twelve to fifteen hour days, seven days a week. It was brutal, hot, filthy, dangerous work, but it paid very well, and I foolishly did it. We had an attrition rate of two out of ten hires staying on, and most quit before lunch. To be fair we were a** h****. We knew what we were capable of and expected it of everyone. If you didn’t pull your weight, we ran you off. They bid work expecting us to do three times the squares per day of tearing off and putting the roofs back than any other company. It was how we made money.

Now, for Chas’ point. We, woman, aren’t designed for that kind of physical punishment. I congratulate and respect her for making it through. I do hope she has thought about the long term effect of it on her body, though. My doc, asked me if all the guys I worked with were breaking down. I said ‘Yea, of course, we are all fifty or so years old.’ She just chuckled and said, ‘Well dear, what the hell did you expect to happen to your tiny frame?’ All of my joints are a mess. Tendon, ligament, cartilage, arthritis ect…issues. Far more damage than is normal for someone, especially a woman, my age. My only finger not smashed, broken or slashed is my right pinky finger. Just because you can do a thing, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. So, I have a wrecked body, and not much to show for it.

Another worry that I have is how shunting women into some of these more dangerous jobs impacts the unit’s dynamic. Even for me, with the guys knowing my capabilities and trusting me to have their backs, there was still an imbalance. It could be distracting. I think, and we all discussed this stuff now and again, they felt like if I got hurt doing something dangerous and they didn’t ask if I needed help, they’d be blamed. Same thing in the Army, especially when we trained strangers who did not know me. It adds a distraction to the group. More worrisome, I had several incidences of men showing off on my behalf and endangering people. Men, I think, to a degree, have a built in sense of protectiveness toward women, and that even when they know it is not necessary they have a difficult time keeping it at bay. So, agin even if you can do the job, doesn’t mean that you being there is what’s best for the unit’s cohesion and functionality.

Anyway, I apologize for rambling. I will close with this. When I was in Basic Training, I was made the platoon leader. My lead drill Sgt., who liked to chatter away at me, took me aside one day and after waving the big, black, oak staff, that he carried, around along the line of privates, shook his head dejectedly and said,

“Private, promise me this. That if you ever get sent into combat with a woman, that the very first thing you’ll do is shoot her, take her weapons, her ammo and her food. Promise me, Private.â€￾

Go figure. 🤔
 
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