For infantry and weapons Marines, the task is to assault the same hill every two or three days, completing a specific set of physical and live-fire tasks over a span of a few kilometers. Special devices on their rifles capture every round's impact to measure accuracy, while the heart rate monitors and surveys administered after each assessment capture individual physical exertion levels.
On alternating days, they hike nearly five miles with their weapons and packs weighing just shy of 60 pounds, then spend two hours digging fighting holes that will later be filled back in with earth movers.
The goal of the task force is to develop gender-blind job-specific standards for each ground combat arms military occupational specialty that remains closed to female Marines. But there's a broader underlying question: Can female Marines do the job at all?
The Marine Corps' answer to that question is likely to be a nuanced one.