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Peter1469
03-29-2013, 11:54 AM
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/running-with-the-big-boys-in-iraq-a-female-soldier-paves-the-way/

I saw this article in the NY Times. A good read.

Now at Fort Hood, Tex., Sergeant Sellers doesn’t say that all women should want to join the infantry or other combat-specific jobs. But she does think they should have a fair opportunity to participate in all aspects of Army service.


“There are no special circumstances. You’re there to perform a job, the same job as a man,” she said. “Some women can do it. Some women can’t, even if they think they can. If you’re going to run with the big boys, you have to hold it to their standard.



“I don’t know how many women would try,” to join the infantry, if it opened to women, she continued. “Some. If they really knew what they were getting into, probably not a lot.”

At least she seems to have enjoyed her experience working with an infantry company in the field.

Ravi
03-29-2013, 11:56 AM
Heck, some men can't perform the same job as a man, lol.

I thought this was already decided anyway?

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 11:59 AM
Heck, some men can't perform the same job as a man, lol.

I thought this was already decided anyway?

I am not so sure that it has.

The article is about a women who was assigned to an infantry unit. She was not an infantry soldier.

The Marine Corps has already said that if enough women don't pass combat arms basic course they will not allow women to serve in combat arms jobs.

I haven't seen the army open up Advanced Infantry Training or Ranger School for women yet.

Santa's Little Helper
03-29-2013, 11:59 AM
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/running-with-the-big-boys-in-iraq-a-female-soldier-paves-the-way/

I saw this article in the NY Times. A good read.

Now at Fort Hood, Tex., Sergeant Sellers doesn’t say that all women should want to join the infantry or other combat-specific jobs. But she does think they should have a fair opportunity to participate in all aspects of Army service.


“There are no special circumstances. You’re there to perform a job, the same job as a man,” she said. “Some women can do it. Some women can’t, even if they think they can. If you’re going to run with the big boys, you have to hold it to their standard.



“I don’t know how many women would try,” to join the infantry, if it opened to women, she continued. “Some. If they really knew what they were getting into, probably not a lot.”

At least she seems to have enjoyed her experience working with an infantry company in the field.

Will women be serving alongside men or will they have separate units

I think there's gonna be alot of hanky pankey

Ravi
03-29-2013, 12:00 PM
I am not so sure that it has.

The article is about a women who was assigned to an infantry unit. She was not an infantry soldier.

The Marine Corps has already said that if enough women don't pass combat arms basic course they will not allow women to serve in combat arms jobs.

I haven't seen the army open up Advanced Infantry Training or Ranger School for women yet.
Interesting. Why not just let the ones that can pass do the job?

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 12:03 PM
Interesting. Why not just let the ones that can pass do the job?

The Marine Corps's position is that they won't spend the money for separate facilities if too few women can pass the courses. If enough pass, then they will spend the money.

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 12:04 PM
Will women be serving alongside men or will they have separate units

I think there's gonna be alot of hanky pankey


The combat service support units have lots of hanky pankey. Some of those units are close to or over 50% women.

Ravi
03-29-2013, 12:04 PM
Crazy. Even college dorms are unisex these days.

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 12:05 PM
Crazy. Even college dorms are unisex these days.

Maybe foxholes will be soon.

oceanloverOH
03-29-2013, 01:57 PM
Good article, and I wholeheartedly agree with it, and especially with the USMC's stance on this topic. Thanks for posting, Peter.

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 02:02 PM
I think that women could succeed in certain combat arms jobs. Armor (largely automated so no need to manually load a tank round that weighs a lot); mech infantry (no need to walk 25 miles with over 100 pound).

But there are other combat arms jobs that zero to very little women could do.

oceanloverOH
03-29-2013, 02:06 PM
I think that women could succeed in certain combat arms jobs. Armor (largely automated so no need to manually load a tank round that weighs a lot); mech infantry (no need to walk 25 miles with over 100 pound).

But there are other combat arms jobs that zero to very little women could do.

I agree. But I do say, let those women who think they can, give any and all combat arms jobs a go. A few might just surprise us. Whether it's enough to justify the necessary facilities to be arranged/built, remains to be seen.

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 02:09 PM
I agree. But I do say, let those women who think they can, give any and all combat arms jobs a go. A few might just surprise us. Whether it's enough to justify the necessary facilities to be arranged/built, remains to be seen.

That is probably what is going to happen.

Chloe
03-29-2013, 02:15 PM
They should at least have the option to try for whatever position they want in the military in my opinion. The automatic assumption that they can't is wrong in my opinion, although i'm sure for a lot of women it is also a great motivator to stick it to the people who created the barriers.

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 02:22 PM
They should at least have the option to try for whatever position they want in the military in my opinion. The automatic assumption that they can't is wrong in my opinion, although i'm sure for a lot of women it is also a great motivator to stick it to the people who created the barriers.

That is a valid point. My only problem with that would be class sizes. If we have lots of women taking up slots that would otherwise be taken up by men- where 50+% of the men wash out..., what are we gaining?

In the OP, the woman sergeant went to air assault school and kicked ass. But a high percent of women never pass the obstacle course to get into the school. And another large group can't pass the 12 mile road march at the end. And that school is on the easy side.

roadmaster
03-29-2013, 02:32 PM
I think that women could succeed in certain combat arms jobs. Armor (largely automated so no need to manually load a tank round that weighs a lot); mech infantry (no need to walk 25 miles with over 100 pound).

But there are other combat arms jobs that zero to very little women could do.

Lol Peter I could have jogged 25 miles with that much weight in my prime but they would have to start out young carrying big bags of seed and walking. Most guys today can't do that but I agree I knew no woman that could except a few. We worked from before the sun came out to dawn most days. Kids today especially woman have no idea how to even walk 25 miles much less with over 100 pounds.

oceanloverOH
03-29-2013, 02:33 PM
That is a valid point. My only problem with that would be class sizes. If we have lots of women taking up slots that would otherwise be taken up by men- where 50+% of the men wash out..., what are we gaining?

In the OP, the woman sergeant went to air assault school and kicked ass. But a high percent of women never pass the obstacle course to get into the school. And another large group can't pass the 12 mile road march at the end. And that school is on the easy side.

If I'm not mistaken, most of these heavy infantry jobs are advanced jobs that you have to have been qualified in one of a few specifically related specialties in order to even qualify for the class, regardless of gender. So you add a couple of prerequisites....underweight restrictions, high marksmanship qualification on specific weapons, physical conditioning minimums (i.e. timed long-distance walk, timed calisthenics, etc.) as requirements to enter the class. This would also weed out the men who might not qualify.

General Ocean
:m1helmet:

roadmaster
03-29-2013, 04:51 PM
I agree. But I do say, let those women who think they can, give any and all combat arms jobs a go. A few might just surprise us. Whether it's enough to justify the necessary facilities to be arranged/built, remains to be seen. I think if they want to try they should be able to. I know at my age I would be lucky to make it 1/2 mile if that and I am not in real bad shape. Don't have that Phillip mentality on survivor. As we age we can see ourselves doing things, but doing it is a different thing.

Dr. Who
03-29-2013, 05:20 PM
I think that women could succeed in certain combat arms jobs. Armor (largely automated so no need to manually load a tank round that weighs a lot); mech infantry (no need to walk 25 miles with over 100 pound).

But there are other combat arms jobs that zero to very little women could do.
There are some big boned 6' 2" ladies on the planet who can probably manage physically as well as a man. As to the 5' 2" variety, I don't imagine that they could haul their body weight around for long. On the other hand, there are many men who are also too small to haul that much weight. The rules should be identical for males and females.

Ravi
03-29-2013, 05:23 PM
There are some big boned 6' 2" ladies on the planet who can probably manage physically as well as a man. As to the 5' 2" variety, I don't imagine that they could haul their body weight around for long. On the other hand, there are many men who are also too small to haul that much weight. The rules should be identical for males and females.I know two women under 5 feet that ran the Boston Marathon last year in record heat and could easily kill anyone that looked at them cross-eyed.

Not to mention: how much hand-to-hand combat actually happens these days?

Peter1469
03-29-2013, 05:43 PM
Lol Peter I could have jogged 25 miles with that much weight in my prime but they would have to start out young carrying big bags of seed and walking. Most guys today can't do that but I agree I knew no woman that could except a few. We worked from before the sun came out to dawn most days. Kids today especially woman have no idea how to even walk 25 miles much less with over 100 pounds.

I don't like it. In Korea one of my soldiers was dragging ass on a 25 mile road march, so me and the squad leader dragged his ass for the last 10 miles of the march. That was hard- I was dry heaving for miles. But our squad came in at the best time for the battalion. And that kid got his act together and didn't let us down after that. That made it worth while.

Mister D
03-29-2013, 08:29 PM
It's a sign of times that mere biology is the focus. Savages.

roadmaster
03-29-2013, 10:56 PM
There are some big boned 6' 2" ladies on the planet who can probably manage physically as well as a man. As to the 5' 2" variety, I don't imagine that they could haul their body weight around for long. On the other hand, there are many men who are also too small to haul that much weight. The rules should be identical for males and females. I am not big boned and never have been and could haul more than my body weight. In fact ten years ago I could still pick up 200lbs, just not over my head. Didn't look muscular either but I do admit even at my age now my arms have no skin hanging down like a good bit of woman my age.

Common
03-31-2013, 06:09 AM
People use that women are successful police and firepersons now and some use that argument for women in combat. Everyone gloss's over the truth or ignores it. All the standards were lowered for Police and Fire to assist women in gaining those jobs in any appreciable numbers. They had to change the physical acruity tests to allow women to pass because most could not.
To give an example years ago to become a police officer, you had to do a set number of pushups, situps and pullups run an obstacle course, then drag a 220 lb dead weight dummy 40ft climb a rope 50 ft touch the ceiling come down and some you had to jog 2 miles. Women had great difficulty passing that test. So they lowered the dummy weight got rid of the rope climb, some got rid of the dummy drag altogether,They also reduced the height and weight requirments considerably because those alone excluded most wome
Philadelphia City fire training used to video training sessions, part of the training was you had to solo lift and place a 40 ft ladder. Fire ladders are not the cheap light garbage you buy in home stores. The video showed the women collectively could not lift the ladder in place. Philly had the tapes removed and stopped all training from being taped.
Am I against women NO and please dont accuse me of it. This is about fact not my opinion. Women no matter how hard people try to say its not so for their own agenda are not as strong as men and are not capable of doing what men can. A man in good condition vs a woman in good condition the man still is stronger.
Does that mean women cant do mens jobs, of course not but there are some that the standards should not be changed just to allow women into them. Like combat positions.

Adelaide
04-01-2013, 03:26 PM
For any physical job, women should have to meet the exact same standards as men. Equality means access to the same positions, not lowering the bar. As a true feminist, I don't believe that women should be in combat unless they can meet the exact same requirements as the males, even if that means no women qualify.

It would be reckless and stupid to lower the bar to meet a quota, especially for jobs that put lives on the line, (military, fire/emergency response, police, etc.).

Common
04-01-2013, 04:50 PM
Unfortunately adelaide lowering the bar was done often in the past.

Newpublius
04-02-2013, 03:42 PM
I think we should take a queue from the Israeli army on this one, check out the IDF. Females do participate, as the brawn factor increases their participation rate actually does decrease, but the percentage of officers, brainier positions, approaches that of men...

One of the basic problems with military service is the presumption that all members need to, at least potentially, be grunts.

Peter1469
04-02-2013, 04:55 PM
I think we should take a queue from the Israeli army on this one, check out the IDF. Females do participate, as the brawn factor increases their participation rate actually does decrease, but the percentage of officers, brainier positions, approaches that of men...

One of the basic problems with military service is the presumption that all members need to, at least potentially, be grunts.

I can't believe that I am defending them; but in the USMC, everyone is an infantryman..... Or at least that is what they say.

In the army we have plenty of jobs suited for women. And some that just aren't.

Captain Obvious
04-02-2013, 06:37 PM
I don't like the idea of women in combat situations, I'm old fashioned like that.

But I don't oppose any woman who wants to serve.

Common
04-02-2013, 09:51 PM
I don't like the idea of women in combat situations, I'm old fashioned like that.

But I don't oppose any woman who wants to serve.


That sums it up for me perfectly. I was raised to always show women respect. You open the doors for them, you do the heavy lifting and you always get in front of them to protect them etc. I guess by todays standards some women would find that offensive. I cant compute that and maybe its because of my age.

waltky
06-15-2016, 11:47 AM
But Obama said callin' somethin' by another term don't make a difference...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/confused.gif
Navy Expands Review of Gender-Specific Job Titles
Jun 14, 2016 | The Navy is calling on senior service leaders to assist in a wide-ranging review of enlisted job titles.


The Navy is calling on senior service leaders to assist in a wide-ranging review of enlisted job titles, or ratings, designed to eliminate gender-specific language and provide clarity. Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke announced Tuesday the Navy was extending its review through the summer and into the fall, allowing the service to assemble a new working group of Navy leaders to study "how potential changes to rating titles may affect related personnel policy issues." Navy Secretary Ray Mabus first ordered a review of job titles for the Marine Corps and the Navy in January as the services opened previously closed positions to women. Mabus targeted jobs like "mortarman" and "fireman" in efforts to provide a more inclusive environment for female troops.


http://images.military.com/media/news/people/061013-female-sailors.jpg

The new elements of the review followed a recent meeting between Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, according to an announcement from Burke's office. During the meeting, according to the announcements, the service leaders agreed to develop a new approach to enlisted job titles that would go beyond simple making them more gender-neutral. They called for ratings that would also provide greater detailing flexibility, training and credentialing opportunities, and that would communicate jobs and roles more clearly to the American public. "As we move to achieve full integration of the force, mirroring more closely the nation that we defend, this is an opportunity to update position titles and descriptions to be more inclusive and better translate occupation and skill sets to prospective employers when Sailors and Marines leave the service," Mabus said in a statement.

This approach will also align the title review effort with personnel changes that are part of the Navy's Sailor 2025 initiative, said Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for Burke. Sailor 2025, among other things, aims to reorganize training to make it more relevant to specific job responsibilities and to deliver it as a sailor needs it in his or her duties, rather than front-loading most of it at the start of a career. It also follows the Navy's new billet-based distribution system, launched in February, that assigns sailors to billets in a more streamlined fashion based on rate, rating and Navy Enlisted Classification. The Sailor 2025 initiative reorganizes current Navy training and delivery methods into blocks of learning that will be delivered closer to the time of actual use in a Sailor's duties. Accession level training courses will be redistributed across the Navy's entry programs, initial service schools, and the first two operational tours of a Sailor's career. "We expect the results of this review to go well beyond new names for existing rates," Christensen said.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/14/navy-expands-review-of-gender-specific-job-titles.html)

See also:

Navy Secretary Names Destroyer after Female Navy Cross Recipient
Jun 14, 2016 | Navy Secretary Ray Mabus appeared at the Iwo Jima Memorial Tuesday night to honor the women who staffed and participated in the Marine Corps' research on women in combat and to announce the naming of a new Navy Arleigh-Burke Class guided missile destroyer.


DDG 123 will be named the USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, Mabus announced, after a Navy nurse who served as superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps during World War I, and was the only living woman to receive the prestigious Navy Cross medal. The contract for the $673 million destroyer in March was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding, a unit of Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. The ship, expected to enter the fleet in 2024, will be the second named for Higbee; the first was a Gearing-Class destroyer in service for the Navy from 1945-1979. "In the Navy, per traditional ship-naming convention, our guided missile destroyers, DDGs, are named after heroes," Mabus said in prepared remarks. "As someone who defied traditional roles and made her own path because she wanted to serve, Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee's devotion to this country through the First World War laid critical groundwork for women in uniform today, and solidified her place in history as a true American hero," he added.

Mabus praised the contributions of women to the Navy and Marine Corps, highlighting the sacrifices of troops including Cpl. Holly Charette, the first female Marine to be killed in Iraq in 2005 when a vehicle carrying explosives struck her vehicle, and Maj. Megan McClung, who was killed in 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq, when her Humvee hit an improvised explosive device. "American women have, time and again, proven their ability, tenacity and courage," the secretary said. "And they have and will continue to make our fighting force stronger through their actions." Mabus also thanked participants in the Marines' Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force, a nearly year-long initiative in 2014 and 2015 to gather data on the impacts of women serving in previously closed ground combat jobs. When task force data released by the Marine Corps showed that teams with female members were more injury prone, slower, and less accurate than all-male teams, Mabus was quick to publicly voice his displeasure.


http://images.military.com/media/news/people/lenah-higbee-600.jpg
Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, USN; Portrait photograph, taken in uniform during the World War I era.

In a September 2015 interview with National Public Radio, Mabus said the task force should have solicited more physically capable female Marines, and suggested the organizers of the task force had been expecting women to fail. "It started out with a fairly large component of the men thinking 'this is not a good idea,' and 'women will never be able to do this,'" he said at the time. "When you start out with that mindset, you're almost presupposing the outcome." Mabus struck a gentler note, however, in his remarks Tuesday night. "We are here tonight to say thank you to everyone who has had a role to play in the full integration of women into our armed services," he said. "To the participants in the Marine Corps' Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force, to the people who I know were in the Pentagon during the holidays working around the clock to craft the policy change: your work was instrumental in eliminating yet another needless barrier."

Mabus, who is wrapping up a seven-year tenure as secretary of the Navy, said he had traveled more than 1.2 million miles around the globe to visit Marines and sailors where they were stationed and speak to them about their concerns. "I've spoken with sailors and Marines about being deployed, about what sustains them throughout deployments, and about what drives them to be so good at what they do," he said. "And that spirit is not about gender, race or who you love; it's about selflessness and character - something hard to miss on an evening like tonight."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/14/navy-secretary-names-destroyer-after-female-navy-cross-recipient.html

waltky
08-13-2016, 04:35 AM
Female Sailor Recognized for Bravery During Iranian Detention...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/salute.gif
Female Sailor Recognized for Bravery During Iranian Detention Incident
Aug 10, 2016 | In the fallout from an embarrassing international incident in which two Navy riverine boats strayed into Iranian waters during a transit to Bahrain and were briefly captured, some half-dozen sailors have faced punishments, but one was recognized with a prestigious award for quick actions in the face of danger, Military.com has learned.


A Navy petty officer second class, the only female sailor among the 10 who were detained, received the Navy Commendation Medal on Aug. 3 in recognition of her efforts to summon help under the noses of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who captured the crews. The number two gunner aboard the second riverine boat, she managed to activate an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, used to signal distress at sea, while in a position of surrender and at gunpoint. A Navy spokesman, Lt. Loren Terry, said the sailor had asked not to be identified and had declined interviews. Service commendation medals are presented for heroic service or meritorious achievement.


http://images.military.com/media/news/conflicts/iran-detains-us-sailors-600.jpg

In a recommendation within the riverine command investigation released to reporters at the end of June, investigating officers found the riverine gunner should be recognized for "her extraordinary courage in activating an emergency beacon while kneeling, bound, and guarded at Iranian gunpoint, at risk to her own safety." While one of the guards ultimately noticed the beacon and turned it off, help was not far off. The Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy, which had been monitoring the journey of the riverine boats, notified Task Force 56.7, the parent unit in Bahrain, when the boats appeared to enter Iranian waters. The investigation found the crews of the Monomoy and the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio should also receive recognition for their efforts to track the captured boat crews and provide assistance for their safe return.


http://images.military.com/media/people/us-sailors-iran-2-640-ts600.jpg

None of the riverine crew members involved in the incident has spoken publicly about the experience. They were returned to U.S. custody following a 15-hour period of detention, during which their captors filmed them and took photographs later used for propaganda purposes by the Iranian media. Photos indicate the female gunner was made to wear a headscarf while detained. A military source with knowledge of planning said the Navy's administrative personnel actions regarding the Jan. 12 riverine incident were nearing completion. In all, three officers were removed from their posts and four officers were sent to admiral's mast, with two receiving letters of reprimand for disobeying a superior officer and dereliction of duty, according to a statement this week from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and first reported by Navy Times.


http://images.military.com/media/news/equipment/captured-sailors-sit-1500-ts600.jpg

One of the officers was found not guilty of dereliction of duty, and a fourth officer still awaits completion of "accountability actions." Two enlisted sailors received letters of reprimand for dereliction of duty, according to the statement. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in June the Navy plans to implement better predeployment training and training on rules of engagement for sailors, as well as enhanced equipment checks and unit oversight.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/10/female-sailor-recognized-for-bravery-iranian-detention-incident.html

See also:

First Female Marine Officer Attempting Infantry Stymied on Final Try
Aug 12, 2016 | The first female Marine to try to become an infantry officer has been reclassified to a different military occupational specialty after failing her second attempt at the grueling Infantry Officer's Course, Military.com has learned.


The officer, who has not been publicly identified, began the 84-day course July 6 and was dropped July 18 after failing to complete two conditioning hikes, Capt. Joshua Pena said. "IOC students may not fall out of more than one hike during a course," Pena said. In all, 34 of the 97 officers who began the course have been dropped. Nine, including the female officer, were recommended for MOS redesignation, meaning they will be placed in a non-infantry job within the Marine Corps.

The female officer first attempted the course in April, just months after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared all previously closed ground combat jobs open to women and ordered the services to design plans for integration. She was dropped on the 11th day of that attempt, after failing to complete a second hike. Notably, the officer passed the notoriously challenging first day's combat endurance test both times she attempted the course.


http://images.military.com/media/news/service/female-marine-600x400.jpg

While 29 female officers had attempted the IOC on a test basis in a three-year period before the integration mandate was handed down, none would have had the chance to enter infantry jobs upon passing the course. And because all but one of the female officers were volunteers attempting the course for personal improvement and Marine Corps research purposes, they were not guaranteed a second shot at the course the way male officers were. (The other female Marine was attempting to become a ground intelligence officer, a job that opened before other infantry jobs.) For that reason, female officers now have their fairest shot at passing the course as the Corps looks to integrate previously male-only units.

But it remains to be seen how many women will attempt to enter these formerly closed positions. Pena said there are now no female officers enrolled or slated to participate in future IOC classes. The current class will conclude Sept. 20. In April, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Marine Corps would not change its physical standards in an attempt to help its first female infantry officers enter the fleet. "One of the questions I got at IOC was, 'OK, five years from now, no woman had made it through IOC. What happens?' " Mabus said at Camp Pendleton on April 12. "My response was, 'No woman made it through IOC. Standards aren't going to change.' "

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/12/female-marine-officer-attempting-infantry-stymied-final-try.html

waltky
08-15-2016, 06:54 AM
Uncle Ferd alla time lookin' fer a few good womens too...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Marines turn to girls high school sports teams for recruits
August 13, 2016 — The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a few more good women.


And this time the campaign is a bit different. Marine recruiters are turning to girls high school sports teams to find candidates who may be able to meet the Corps' rigorous physical standards, including for the front-line combat jobs now open to women. Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller says he wants to increase the number of women in the Corps to 1 in 10. "I've told them that 10 percent is where we want to go and they're working on it," Neller told The Associated Press in an interview. "Go recruit more women. Find them. They're out there." For years, only about 7 percent to 8 percent of the Corps, which numbers 184,200, has been women. It's the smallest percentage of women among all the military services. But on the heels of the Pentagon decision to allow women who qualify to serve in combat jobs, thousands of new infantry, armor and other front-line posts are now open. Neller said he wants to see women in some of those posts. That order now rests with Maj. Gen. Paul Kennedy, head of the Marine Corps' recruiting command.


http://images.military.com/media/global/newscred/marines-looks-few-more-good-women-recruiting-drive-13-aug-2016-ts600.jpeg
Major Shanelle Porter, USMC, is commanding officer at Recruiting Station Chicago. The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a few more good women.

Kennedy is aggressively recruiting women for the service. He's sending targeted mailings, changing advertising to better represent female Marines, and traveling the country to meet with coaches and female athletes who may be well-suited for the rigors of Marine service. In particular, Neller believes female wrestlers are good candidates. "We looked at that and said, 'Wow, that's kinda what we're looking for,'" he said. "They're disciplined, they're fit, they're focused on their mission." According to Kennedy, the Marines, for the first time, are mailing recruiting literature to thousands of high school girls. Also, updated advertising will show active-duty female Marines doing their jobs on the battlefield. "The biggest complaint that we've heard and we're reacting to is that we were showing women in some of our material — whether it's commercial or print or whatever — and they were always training," Kennedy said. "And that was a mistake."

Already he's gone to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association conference and has targeted wrestling and other sports gatherings this year. In those sessions, he said, he is working to debunk misconceptions about women in the Marine Corps, including worries about sexual harassment and sexual assault, limits on career options, lack of stability and difficulties having a family life. "We got to talk to them, got to show them there are plenty of female married officers and enlisted, that it's not a good ol' boys club anymore when you talk about the career issues," Kennedy said in an interview in his office at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

MORE (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/marines-turn-girls-high-school-sports-teams-recruits)

Peter1469
08-15-2016, 03:59 PM
Nothing new about that.

waltky
08-28-2016, 04:41 AM
Granny says, "You go, gurl...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/salute.gif
This Female Marine Passed Infantry Training Battalion
Aug 23, 2016 — A Marine walks up to a pullup bar. She takes a deep breath; leaps up and grabs hold … one, two, three, four. She cranks out pullup after pullup … 18, 19, 20 … and when she can't do any more, she drops down and smoke seems to puff up from her Marine Corps-issued boots.


With 26 pullups, Marine Corps Cpl. Tori C. Best, a combat engineer with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, secured her place as the female record-holder aboard the USS Boxer. Her record is only seven behind the male record-holder aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during Western Pacific Deployment 16-1.


http://images02.military.com/media/news/people/tori-c.-best.jpg
Marine Corps Cpl. Tori C. Best, a combat engineer with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is the current female pullup record holder aboard the USS Boxer

Best said her upbringing in Anchorage, Alaska, gave her the tools to excel and overcome any challenge, whether physical or mental. "I grew up really active," she said. "I did cross country running and I eventually got into rock and ice climbing. I remember every summer we'd be hiking and fishing. It was this really active lifestyle. So it was never a thought about going to the gym and being fit. It was something we needed to be to enjoy life." "It was the competition between me and my brother that sparked my ability to do pullups," Best said. "I was doing ten pullups at a time before I enlisted, and even before I went to boot camp I was able to do sixteen. Then, during [training], we would do pyramid workouts where we did five pullups all the way down to one and back up. I started including five pullups after every workout and during the competition on the Boxer I was able to do 26."

A Change in Direction

After graduating high school early, Best said she was determined to fulfill her dream of serving in the military. "I was born in the states, but my family is Canadian and it is my belief that if you enter a new country you should serve in its military," she said. "My parents were really surprised by my decision because I graduated high school early and was already enrolled in a college," Best said. "But … I wanted to join first, before I went to college." So Best went to her local recruiter's office and demonstrated her abilities. Even then, she was in top physical shape and the recruiter took note. "Being an infantry Marine was something my recruiter brought up the first time I went to see him," she said. "He saw I could do pull ups and asked me if I was interested in going to Infantry Training Battalion and it really sparked my interest."

After Marines finish boot camp, they are sent to the School of Infantry where they begin combat training either in Marine Combat Training or the Infantry Training Battalion. Best would be one of the first female volunteers to go through the Infantry Training Battalion at School of Infantry East. It wasn't until Fall 2013, that female Marines were given the opportunity to go through ITB. "At the end of boot camp, our drill instructors sat us all down and gave us a brief [description of] going to ITB as a test subject. All those who didn't want to do it got up and left," she said. "And then there was a group of us left and we were excited because this is what we wanted to do from the beginning. We were all ready, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to change history. And I think that's how we all went into it." The Marine Corps' two Infantry Training Battalions challenge Marines both physically and mentally. Marines who complete the course take their place at the tip of the spear for the Corps. The challenges push Marines to their limits and beyond with 20-mile hikes carrying a full combat load that can weigh up to 85 lbs. The training standard is the same for male and female Marines.

Crashing Through Barriers (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/23/this-female-marine-passed-infantry-training-battalion.html)

Peter1469
08-28-2016, 08:21 AM
Several enlisted female marines have passed the enlisted infantry course.

Zero officers have passed the officer course.

waltky
11-21-2016, 04:30 AM
All Granny did when she was a Warrant Officer is serve warrants... Mississippi's 1st Female Apache Pilot Fulfills Dream Nov 18, 2016 — When Jessi McCormick was a child, if you would have told her what she would be doing in 2016, she would have never believed it. "I never, ever as a kid would have ever thought I'd be an Apache pilot," she said. "It's the greatest feeling."
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is the most advanced multi-role combat helicopter for the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defense forces. The 31-year-old Olive Branch resident, now a warrant officer, is the first female Apache helicopter pilot in the Mississippi National Guard. She started out as a Marine, joining in 2003 as a military police officer. After four years and two deployments, she left the Marines, but joined the National Guard a year later. McCormick was an MP with the Clinton unit for a while, deploying again in 2009-2010, and moved to the public affairs unit out of Jackson. While she was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, the urge to fly hit her. "When I was in Afghanistan, I was flying around a lot, and one day I was flying in a Blackhawk looking out the side of it and I thought, 'I kinda want to fly,'" she said. "That was one of those things I hadn't tried and I figured it would keep me interested. So I decided to inquire about the path to flight school."
http://images04.military.com/media/news/people/jessica-mccormick-ts600.jpg Warrant Officer Jessica McCormick is the first female Mississippi Army National Guard Apache pilot There were a lot of steps to get there, McCormick found out, including corrective eye surgery. There was also an interview with a flight board, made up of the pilots she would be flying with were she to pass. "They do an interview to see what kind of person you are," she said. "For the National Guard, since we're all local, we're all family, they want to make sure you're good for the unit." While there's a lot of emphasis put on McCormick's benchmark as the first female Apache pilot, she said her gender didn't even cross her mind as a possible obstacle. Being a woman in a man's profession was nothing new to her. "I had heard they'd never had a female in this unit, but coming from the Marine Corps and doing jobs there weren't a lot of females in, I knew they wouldn't discriminate against me because they'd never had one," she said. "They'd just never had anyone want to be here and fight to be here. I just happened to be the first one." MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/18/mississippi-1st-female-apache-pilot-fulfills-dream.html)

waltky
12-07-2016, 07:15 PM
Prob'ly cause dey scared the bejeebers outta dat lady hangin' from dat helicopter...
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Air Force Confirms No Women Now in SpecOps Training
Dec 07, 2016 | The U.S. Air Force has confirmed no women are currently in training for any special operations positions.


The U.S. Air Force has confirmed no women are currently in training for any special operations positions. Confusion over the matter surfaced this week after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in a commentary published Saturday on the website medium.com suggested a female airman was training to become a tactical air control party, or TACP. "Interest in the Air Force's battlefield airmen career fields has increased, with 18 women attempting initial training," he wrote. "I am proud to say that the first woman has entered training to become a tactical air control party airman."

The essay, "Combat Integration: The First Year of Firsts," was designed to highlight the Defense Department's groundbreaking policy change this year to open all combat positions to all qualified candidates regardless of gender. However, the female airman to which Carter was referring left the program in July after becoming injured, according to an Air Force official. "The individual in question entered the TACP training pipeline earlier this year, but subsequently withdrew due to medical reasons and returned to her original [Air Force Specialty Code]," said Maj. Andrew J. Schrag, spokesman for Air Combat Command, confirmed in an email to Military.com on Monday. "At this moment, there are no women currently enrolled," Schrag said.


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A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter hoists a tactical air control party airman during a training exercise in New Jersey

Officials have said efforts are underway to recruit more female into so-called battlefield airmen roles -- those comprising combat controllers, pararescuemen, special operations weathermen and TACP airmen. Only a handful were in line to begin the very early stages of the program's process, Capt. Jose Davis of Air Education and Training Command, told Military.com in October. "Before entrance into the pipeline, one of the several requisites for potential applicants is passing the Physical Ability and Stamina Test (PAST)," he said at the time.

There had been nine civilian women, or potential recruits, who started taking the test, Davis said then. Four of the women withdrew and five were still working to pass, he said. "When we do get the first woman in the pipeline, she'll be in the Battlefield Airman Training Group, 37th Training Wing, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland," Davis said then. "After completion of training in the Battlefield Airman Training Group, Airmen are then sent to their respective AFSCs," in various commands, Davis explained in an email statement. There are also differences between officers and enlisted personnel getting into the battlefield training training pipeline. In the final months of President Barack Obama's administration, Carter has expounded on the importance of women in combat at a time when questions continue to swirl over whether President-elect Donald Trump will seek to roll back recent social changes in the military.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/12/07/air-force-confirms-no-women-specops-training.html)

Peter1469
12-09-2016, 07:24 PM
Update:
Marine Corps Says It Will Review Women-In-Combat Integration If Requested By Trump (http://taskandpurpose.com/marine-corps-says-will-review-women-combat-integration-requested-trump/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-today)
Looks like Obama's social engineering will get stopped cold.

Good.


The Pentagon’s decision to integrate women into combat positions will be reviewed if requested by President-elect Donald Trump, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said Wednesday.

“If we’re asked what our best military advice is on that, we’ll make that known at that time,” Neller said Wednesday at a defense forum in Washington, D.C.

waltky
01-25-2017, 04:03 AM
Former congresswoman and Air Force Academy graduate...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/salute.gif
Trump's SecAF Pick May Signal Openness to Women in Combat
Jan 25, 2017 | President Donald Trump's choice for the next Air Force secretary could be a signal to troops that neither he nor Defense Secretary James Mattis intend to impose a ban on women in combat.


Heather Wilson, a former congresswoman and Air Force Academy graduate, hasn't directly advocated for women on the front lines -- indeed, she once raised doubts about lifting the ban on female troops serving in direct combat arms positions. But she has aggressively backed the need for women in combat support roles, according to congressional testimony from 2005. Wilson was elected in 1998 to represent New Mexico's 1st Congressional District and at the time was the first and only female veteran serving in Congress.

During a spirited debate more than a decade ago over whether the U.S. should move to ban military women from serving and supporting their male counterparts on the front lines, Wilson had no intention of letting the subject whittle away just because male members in Congress believed "good men protect women" -- and not the other way around. "Good women want freedom, too, and will fight for it," the retired Air Force captain said, according to a New York Daily News story from May 19, 2005. Committee members were concerned over the rising casualty rates for women serving in the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


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Heather Wilson is seen in Albuquerque, N.M.

At that time, nearly 40 women had been killed and 250 wounded during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Prior to the hearing, the House had last debated the issue of women in combat in 1979, according to the Center for Military Readiness. While Wilson was skeptical of lifting the ban on women serving directly in combat, such as infantry and artillery roles, she said it was "silly" and "offensive" to limit the women already serving as medics, drivers, military police, engineers and even other roles such as Female Engagement Teams -- which were vital in advising and collecting information from local families in the Middle East without breaking cultural norms. The idea "just doesn't make sense," she said at the time. "We can't meet our recruiting needs now."

Lawmakers "ultimately abandoned" the provision, according to Congressional Quarterly's issue tracker on women in the military. "This was unnecessary and unhelpful," Wilson said of the back-and-forth negotiations. "There will be no restrictions in statute for how the Army can assign women in the military." The congresswoman later ran in 2008 for a Senate seat, but lost during the primary election. This month, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Defense Secretary James Mattis said he would support the current policy on women in combat roles. "I have no plan to oppose women in any aspect of our military," he said.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/25/trumps-secaf-pick-signal-openness-women-combat.html)

waltky
01-28-2017, 05:39 AM
Uncle Ferd would go fer dat...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Female Marines to Sleep Next to Male Marines in Field
Jan 27, 2017 | Female infantry Marines will be sleeping in makeshift shelters next to their male counterparts when out in the field and no special accommodation will be offered to them, a Marine Corps official said Thursday.


Marines in the field stay in everything from a large, single room shelter filled with dozens of cots to sleeping under tarps or nothing at all, said Maj. Charles Anklam III, executive officer for 1st Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina — the first gender-integrated Marine infantry battalion. Female Marines have private rooms and bathrooms in their living quarters, and female bathrooms have been added to buildings where Marines work. But female Marines will be expected to share any living spaces with male squad members in the field to keep unit cohesion and replicate battlefield conditions, he said. "We're not changing our tactical posture or changing how we operate to accommodate the inclusion of female Marines," Anklam said.


http://images02.military.com/media/news/people/marine-corps-recruits-1500-ts600.jpg
U.S. Marine Corps Recruits from Platoon 4045, N. Co., 4th Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, practice sighting in on the range at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C.

The battalion accepted its first three females in early January, marking the first time the Marine Corps has put three enlisted women in a ground combat unit once open only to men. They will serve as a rifleman, machine gunner and mortar Marine. Anklam said female Marines deployed to conflict zones have shared tents with their male counterparts at times. But this marks the first time female Marines will be doing so during their regular training with their combat unit. Their entry into the unit was part of efforts to comply with the Pentagon's directive in December 2015 to open all military jobs to women. That decision also formally recognized the thousands of female servicewomen who fought in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, including those who were killed or wounded.

Opponents of the Obama administration's policy change voiced concern about the two genders sharing tents. "You're going to have sex, you're going to have love, you're going to have relationships, and it's going to overly complicate the command structure," Marine veteran, Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, told the Marine Corps Times. Another opponent, Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, said the three women will serve separately within units of men. Small teams traditionally sleep together in tents on deployment but having mixed genders will affect the atmosphere, she added. "Policy makers should be held accountable for creating conditions that will encourage indiscipline rather than discipline," she said in a statement.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/27/female-marines-sleep-male-marines-field.html

Peter1469
01-28-2017, 07:34 AM
No shit. In an infantry unit you typically sleep in or behind your fighting position using a poncho and poncho liner and perhaps a sleeping bag if it is below zero. At least in the Army we never used a tent for traditional infantry duty unless you were on a fire base.

rcfieldz
01-28-2017, 07:36 AM
I have mixed feelings.

waltky
05-22-2017, 05:32 AM
Women graduate infantry training...
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First Women Finish Army's Enlisted Infantry Training
21 May 2017 | The graduates are part of an Army initiative to integrate women into previously closed military occupational specialties.


Moments before 18 women were about to walk across Inouye Field at Fort Benning, Ga., to become brand new privates and specialists, a female drill sergeant offered clarity. "This is a big deal," she said to the younger women Friday morning on the grounds of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center. "You are making f---ing history." It was the kind of clarity that only a drill sergeant can provide. The four women were among 18 who graduated from One Station Unit Training as the first women to take the enlisted route to become infantrymen. It was another in a string of historic Army gender-integration events that have played out at the Maneuver Center of Excellence over the last four years. Friday was part of the third and final phase.

Though Friday's graduates are the first enlisted women to complete infantry-specific basic training, they are part of a much broader initiative that started in 2013 when the Army made the formal move to integrate women into previously closed military occupational specialties. The women will be moving to assignments at either Fort Hood, Texas, or Fort Bragg, N.C. They will be going to units where there will be women in positions of responsibility at platoon, company and battalion level, Army officials have said. Some will remain at Fort Benning to complete Airborne School before moving to a unit.


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U.S. Army Soldiers prepare to graduate Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT), in March 2017 at the National Infantry Museum's Inouye Parade Field.

During Friday's graduation ceremony, there was no official mention of the historic event and media coverage was limited to two outlets, The New York Times and Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The only time gender was mentioned during the ceremony was when various speakers referred to the new soldiers as "infrantrymen" and 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment commander Lt. Col. Sam Edwards referred to the Infantry in its historic context as "Queen of Battle."

The colonel, charged with overseeing the basic training at Fort Benning, said the women earned the blue cords and the right to call themselves infantrymen. "It is not soccer camp. Everybody doesn't get a trophy here," said Col. Kelly Kendrick, 198th Infantry Brigade commanding officer. "It's very demanding. And we only give this to those who earn it. We don't give this away -- man or woman." There were 48 women trainees who arrived at Fort Benning in February, and 32 of them were deemed ready to attempt basic training without any additional physical training. The 18 graduates were among those 32 soldiers. There were 148 men who started the class, and 119 of them graduated.

'I am like anybody else' (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/05/21/first-women-finish-enlisted-infantry-training-become-army.html)

NapRover
05-22-2017, 08:00 AM
I think this would be an appropriate role for women in combat.
Report: Brit Special Forces sniper takes out ISIS sniper 1.5 miles away

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/05/report_brit_special_forces_sniper_takes_out_isis_s niper_15_miles_away.html

Peter1469
05-22-2017, 05:04 PM
I think this would be an appropriate role for women in combat.
Report: Brit Special Forces sniper takes out ISIS sniper 1.5 miles away



http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/05/report_brit_special_forces_sniper_takes_out_isis_s niper_15_miles_away.html

What if they have to carry 160 pounds for 20 miles to get into position?

Peter1469
05-22-2017, 05:04 PM
Women graduate infantry training...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif
First Women Finish Army's Enlisted Infantry Training
21 May 2017 | The graduates are part of an Army initiative to integrate women into previously closed military occupational specialties.
That is my old basic unit.

Cletus
05-22-2017, 06:13 PM
I think this would be an appropriate role for women in combat.
Report: Brit Special Forces sniper takes out ISIS sniper 1.5 miles away



http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/05/report_brit_special_forces_sniper_takes_out_isis_s niper_15_miles_away.html

The .408 Chey Tac is a good round and the intervention is a great rifle. Just over a week ago, my shooting partner hit at 1.72 miles with a .338 Lapua, so I don't doubt the claims made in the article.

Cletus
05-22-2017, 06:15 PM
What if they have to carry 160 pounds for 20 miles to get into position?

That is an issue. There are some fine female marksmen out there, but shooting ability is only a small part of what makes up a sniper. I think women assigned as DM (Designated Marksmen) to protect critical facilities could and would work very well.

waltky
06-17-2017, 12:02 AM
Vitamins Boost Female Grunts' Performance...
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Services Use Vitamins, Nutrition to Boost Female Grunts' Performance
15 Jun 2017 | Army officials were tasked with looking for ways to get the best performance out of female troops.


As the military services moved to admit women into previously closed special operations and ground combat jobs in 2016, Army officials were tasked with looking for ways to get the best performance out of female troops in order to minimize injury and boost their opportunities to succeed. And they discovered one unlikely culprit that was holding some women back: chronic iron deficiency. While it's well known that women tend to be more iron-deficient than men for various reasons, the scope of the problem, and its impact on overall performance, was eyebrow-raising.

About a quarter of the women who enter the Army training pipeline have an iron deficiency, said Scott McConnell, who discussed Army Training and Doctrine Command's efforts to improve training at the quarterly meeting of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services on Wednesday. After several weeks of training, that figure can double, he said. "That impacts your body's ability to carry oxygen to the vital organs. And so iron deficiency can actually be reflected in poor aerobic fitness levels and physical performance," McConnell said.


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Recruits of November Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, run 1.5 miles during an initial strength test Sept. 16, 2016, on Parris Island, S.C.

In February 2016, the Army announced it would begin providing iron-rich multivitamins to female soldiers. And, McConnell said, the move has made a difference. "The statistic we have is that the iron supplements can actually shave two minutes off the two-mile run time," he said. As services address the challenge of preparing female troops to meet stringent physical standards designed for men, they're gaining new insights about the way nutrition affects performance -- insights that have the potential to benefit the total force.

Since the services began opening previously closed jobs last year in response to a mandate from then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter, it has become clear that it's completely possible for women to meet minimum infantry requirements. To date, 14 female Army officers, 16 noncommissioned officers, and 21 junior enlisted soldiers have been assigned to infantry positions in the active component and Reserve, according to Army data presented Wednesday.

On the Marine Corps side, nine officers and 63 enlisted women have graduated military occupational specialty school for previously closed fields, including one in the rifleman MOS. At the same time, it's evident that women face greater physical hurdles just because they're built differently than men and have different average capability ranges. And that's where tools such as nutrition, supplements and smart training can help.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/06/15/services-use-vitamins-nutrition-boost-female-grunts-performance.html)

Peter1469
06-17-2017, 05:33 AM
Not enough to help them care 120 pounds over two weeks in the field conducting combat operations.
Vitamins Boost Female Grunts' Performance...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif
Services Use Vitamins, Nutrition to Boost Female Grunts' Performance
15 Jun 2017 | Army officials were tasked with looking for ways to get the best performance out of female troops.

waltky
09-13-2017, 06:45 PM
Marine womens workin' on dey's pull-ups...
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Nearly 10,000 Female Marines Opt for Pull Ups in New Fitness Test
7 Sep 2017 | Just three years after the Marine Corps acknowledged fewer than half of female recruits in boot camp couldn't complete three pull ups, some 65 percent of all female Marines voluntarily performed pull ups in their annual physical fitness test this year, officials said.


Last year, the Corps rolled out the biggest overhaul to its PFT in 40 years, with major changes to upper-body strength requirements designed to make equal demands on female and male troops. The changes did away with the timed flexed-arm hang, which had been the standard option for female Marines, and gave all Marines the option to perform push-ups, or the more challenging pull ups. The test was, however, clearly weighted toward pull ups, with rules that made it impossible to get a perfect score without choosing that option. For women, depending on which of eight age groups they fall into, they can max their score with between three and 10 pull ups; male Marines can max out with between 18 and 23. According to new data provided to Military.com, 9,500 female Marines did pull ups in their most recent test, with Marines age in the four age groups up to age 40 averaging 7 to 8 reps.

In the three previous years, in which female Marines had an option to do pull ups instead of the flexed-arm hang but no performance incentive to do them, the percentage of female Marines choosing the option has risen steadily, said Brian McGuire, deputy force fitness branch head for the standards division of Marine Corps Training and Education Command. In 2013, just over 1,000 of all female Marines chose pull ups; in 2014, more than 1,700 chose the option; in 2015, more than 1,900 opted for pullups; and last year it was just under 2,000, or roughly 14 percent of all female Marines, McGuire said. The massive increase this year "is a marker for how this change has incentivized female Marines on the PFT," he said. "What's happening is that behaviors are changing and the benefits of upper body strength training are being realized, so this will enhance physical performance in combat-related demands as well as garrison duties."


http://images01.military.com/media/offduty/fitness/female-pull-up-1800-ts600.jpg
Major Misty Posey demonstrates proper form for pull-ups to Marines at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia

McGuire said female Marines who opted for pull ups but found they could not complete the minimum single repetition, or men who could not complete the minimum average of five, were not given the chance to do pushups instead. "That was an early consideration, but as the policy is now, a Marine, male or female, declares on that event which event they want to execute," he said. In spite of that, McGuire said overall failure rates in a test that also incorporated more stringent running times for most age group were only marginally increased this year, less than 1 percent. In addition, he said, there was negligible impact on promotions as Marines rolled out the new standards.

But while the overall PFT failure rate for all Marines was 2.9 percent, some female age groups saw a significantly higher rate. According to data reviewed by Military.com, female Marines ages 21 to 25 had a 5.6 percent failure rate, the highest of any age group. Male Marines in the same age group had the second-highest failure rate, 4.9 percent. The updated upper body strength standards come shortly after all previously closed combat jobs opened to women throughout the Department of Defense in keeping with a Pentagon mandate from late 2015. The Marine Corps crafted job-specific fitness requirements for both genders that emphasized upper body strength and other key combat requirements. While a 2014 boot camp test found that half of female recruits were unable to do pull ups, the Marine Corps has since leaned in to efforts to develop the skill set, promoting a pull up training plan designed by a female officer and more recently developing a program to make professional fitness instructors available to the force.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/09/07/nearly-10000-female-marines-opt-pull-ups-new-fitness-test.html

waltky
09-21-2017, 04:18 AM
1 Woman Still in Air Force SpecOps Training...
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1 Woman Still in Air Force SpecOps Training: General
19 Sep 2017 | One woman is in training to become a battlefield Tactical Air Control Party specialist, Gen. Darryl Roberson said Tuesday.


One woman remains in training to become a battlefield Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) specialist, one of several special operations jobs in the Air Force, the head of Air Education and Training Command said Tuesday. "We have one female that's in the course right now," AETC commander Gen. Darryl Roberson said during a Facebook Live interview Tuesday with Military.com. Roberson didn't identify the airman, who joined the program Aug. 14 after Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, according to Air Force Times.

Roberson said four other women have entered Air Force special operations training since then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reversed long-standing U.S. military traditions in late 2015, when he announced that all military occupational specialties would open to women. Those other trainees have left the program for various reasons, the general said. One woman who began SpecOps training in August dropped out that same month. One TACP retrainee ended up removing herself from training due to a leg injury last year; a combat rescue officer candidate passed the physical test but never completed the selection program application; and another non-prior service TACP candidate couldn't meet entry standards following BMT.

Roberson said he is hopeful more women will seek out some of the toughest jobs the service has to offer. "Come and join us!" he said during Tuesday's interview. "We can help you get through it." The general this spring introduced a new initiative, the Continuum of Learning, which aims to streamline training for airmen just beginning their Air Force careers. "We're working really hard for battlefield airmen. It's our hardest specialty area; it's our biggest attrition rate area," Roberson said. "We have to figure out better ways to train and get these airmen through the program. Several of the ways we're doing this is through the Continuum of Learning [initiative]." "We just instituted a brand-new course -- the Battlefield Airmen Prep Course, a preparatory course that once you finish BMT ... we're going to put you in this training program that is six weeks long. And it's going to prepare you to start the original course of initial entry," he said.


http://images02.military.com/media/news/service/female-airmen-salute-3000-ts600.jpg
Airmen salute the American flag as it is lowered during the women’s retreat ceremony at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.

Following the prep course, airmen head to the indoctrination course, both of which are under the Battlefield Airman Training Group, also at JBSA-Lackland, Marilyn Holliday, a spokeswoman for AETC, said last month. "Both of these groups are part of the 37th Training Wing" at Lackland. Roberson said airmen must trust the process. "It's to get you ready better than we've ever done before, so when you start the [special operations training] course, your chances of success are much higher," he said. Lt. Gen. Marshall "Brad" Webb, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, said he is confident women will soon count themselves among the service's commandos. "It's going to happen, and we are ready in this command for it to happen," he said during a briefing with reporters. "It's going to be a huge non-event when it does happen."

Webb said he isn't sure when, exactly, or whether some special operations fields may see more female recruits than others. But he drew a comparison to the 1990s, when female pilots started flying service aircraft and many advanced into leadership positions. "It's maturing at a pace that you'd expect," he said. So far, six women have expressed interest in applying for special operations positions, including three for TAC-P, two for combat control officer and one for pararescue jumper (PJ), according to Command Master Sgt. Greg Smith.

Of those, two followed through, but one suffered a foot injury during initial training and another wasn't ultimately selected, Smith said. "For recruitment, it is open, it is there," he said. "Assessment, that is always our hardest part. We graduate less than 1 percent of males that go through, so you can expect probably 1 percent of females that go through will do that. We will get there. We are enthusiatsically waiting and wanting this to happen. "If you watch 'American Ninja Warrior' today, I'll tell you right now we need to go hang out there with recruitment because half of them could kick the crap out of half of us," he added, referring to the NBC series on obstacle course competitions. "Those are the ones we want in special tactics today."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/09/19/1-woman-currently-air-force-specops-training-general.html

waltky
09-23-2017, 05:43 AM
First Woman to Graduate Grueling Marine Infantry Officer Course...
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First Marine Woman to Graduate Grueling Infantry Officer Course
21 Sep 2017 | The first woman Marine to pass the Infantry Officer Course will graduate Monday and be qualified to lead a platoon in combat.


Barring any last-minute glitches, the first woman Marine to pass the grueling Infantry Officer Course will graduate Monday and be qualified to lead a rifle platoon in combat, the Marine Corps said Thursday. The lieutenant, who has not been identified, succeeded where three other women had failed in the past -- one of them twice -- and is set to join graduation ceremonies with her peers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, the Marine Corps' Training and Education Command said.

The historic graduation was first reported by The Washington Post. "The female officer within Infantry Officer Course (IOC) has completed all graduation requirements," the command said in a statement. The 13-week course recently concluded with a three-week, live-fire exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, also known as Twentynine Palms, California. "Since ground combat military occupational specialties [MOS] were opened to women in April 2016, four female Marine officers have volunteered and attempted Infantry Officer Course. The female officer in the current course will be the first female to successfully complete IOC and earn the MOS of 0302, Infantry Officer," the command said.


http://images02.military.com/media/news/equipment/marines-ioc-silhouette-3000-ts600.jpg
Marine Infantry Officer Course students await a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter fast rope drill on the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., Auxiliary Landing Field 2

The IOC is the last hurdle to becoming a Marine platoon commander and is also the required training for ground intelligence officers. "The demanding 13-week course trains and educates newly selected infantry and ground intelligence officers in leadership, infantry skills, and character required to serve as infantry platoon commanders in the operating forces," the command said. To graduate, those entering IOC must complete six graded tactical-movement exercises, including hikes of 6.4 and 9.3 miles with loads of up to 152 pounds. About 25 percent of those who attempt the course fail to complete it. The graduation Monday will come nearly two years after the Pentagon lifted the military's last remaining restrictions for women, part of an effort to make the armed forces fully inclusive.

The Corps first opened the Infantry Officer Course to women on an experimental basis in 2012, allowing them to attempt it as part of broader research across the Defense Department examining the integration of women into all-male units. Thirty-two women tried the course before the research ended in spring 2015, and none completed it. Four additional female Marines, including the one who will graduate Monday, have attempted the course since the Pentagon opened all jobs to women in December 2015.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/09/21/first-marine-woman-graduate-grueling-infantry-officer-course.html

waltky
10-03-2017, 03:49 PM
First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training Oct. 3...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif
First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training
29 Sep 2017 | Days after the Marine Corps welcomed its first female infantry officer, the service is set to mark another milestone.


A female officer enrolled in the Corps' assault amphibian officer course aboard Camp Pendleton, California is set to graduate Oct. 3, Capt. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command, told Military.com. When she does, she'll be the first woman to earn the military occupational specialty of 1803, assault amphibian officer, qualified to be a platoon commander for Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles, better known as AAVs or Amtracks.

Pena did not release the officer's rank or name ahead of her planned graduation. Like ground infantry jobs, jobs within armored vehicle specialties including AAVs and Light Armored Vehicles were closed to women until 2016, when all jobs across the military were declared open to both genders. To date, two female enlisted Marines have graduated AAV training, Pena said.


http://images04.military.com/media/people/marineamphibs093017-ts600.jpg
Marines with the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion await orders while conducting beach operations at Camp Lejeune. The Corps will graduate its first female assault amphibian officer on Oct. 3.

The officer preparing to graduate has completed an intensive 12-week course including land water survival skills, vehicle maintenance and management, gunnery skills, amphibious operations, and offensive and defensive operations. The last four-and-and-a-half weeks of the course are spent at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California and emphasize maneuver and operations in combat. "The purpose of this course is to provide the training necessary to serve as platoon commanders of an Assault Amphibian unit," a course description posted to the Marines' official website, which still contains exclusively masculine pronouns, reads. "The course ensures the AAV platoon commander is trained to prepare his crews and AAVs for the tactical employment of troops and equipment during ship-to-shore movement and subsequent operations ashore."

The soon-to-graduate assault amphibian officer will represent the latest in a series of firsts for the Marine Corps. On Monday, the Marine Corps announced the graduation of the service's first female infantry officer following her graduation from the service's infantry officer course. In April, the service welcomed its first tank officer, 2nd Lt. Lillian Polatchek. And two female artillery officers, 2nd Lts. Katherine Boy and Virginia Brodie, have already joined the fleet after completing required job training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in June 2016.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/09/29/first-female-marine-aav-officer-set-graduate-training.html

waltky
10-13-2017, 05:25 AM
Uncle Ferd says watch out fer Army womens w/ tatoos - dey spank too hard...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/eek.gif
Army Looking to Add Female Infantry, Armor Soldiers to New Posts
11 Oct 2017 | WASHINGTON -- The Army will expand the number of installations where it assigns female soldiers serving in previously all-male, front-line combat jobs as more women enter the infantry and armor fields, a top general said Wednesday.


To date, more than 500 female soldiers have completed training to serve in infantry and armor jobs that only became opened to them in December 2015 when the Pentagon eliminated rules barring women from serving in certain military jobs, Lt. Gen. Thomas C. Seamands, the Army's chief of personnel, said during the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. "These are citizens who a few years ago would not have had the opportunity to be infantry or armor soldiers, and they are now doing it and doing it quite well [and] with distinction," he said. So far, the Army has assigned about 100 of those female soldiers to units at two posts -- Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Hood in Texas.

Women are serving in infantry and armor units within Fort Bragg's 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams in the 82nd Airborne Division and in Fort Hood's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The other roughly 400 soldiers in those fields are now in various training programs while they await assignments to combat units. But as more women enter the previously closed fields, the service will need to expand the number of installations where it assigns female infantry and armor soldiers, said Lt. Col. Naomi Mercer, the Army's chief of command policy who is helping develop the gender-integration process for the service.


http://images04.military.com/media/people/nargis-kabiri-1200-ts600.jpg
Army Capt. Nargis Kabiri, commander of Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division Artillery, helps her team prepare an M119 Howitzer on Fort Stewart, Ga

The Army said last month that it had an additional 184 women attempting to join the infantry and another 125 attempting to serve in armor jobs. The expansion of posts with female infantry and armor soldiers could come within the next year, Mercer said. She declined to identify which Army installations are being considered, but she said female infantry and armor soldiers would likely begin their careers at larger posts with multiple combat units. Fort Hood and Fort Bragg were chosen because they are large installations with extensive resources for soldiers serving in combat arms fields, Mercer said. "The consideration is based on the opportunities for the [soldiers] who go there," she said. "The reason that we picked Fort Bragg and Fort Hood in the first place is that those are armor and infantry hubs."

Just as the Army has done at Fort Hood and Fort Bragg, it will place at least two female officers or noncommissioned officers in a unit before it moves junior enlisted soldiers -- in the rank of specialist or below -- into those units. The Army calls that structure a leaders-first approach to integrating women into fields that were traditionally all male. Mercer said the structure has been effective so far and the leaders are paving the way for new soldiers just out of initial entrance training programs to move into the combat force. "We've been preparing for this since 2012 and it has proven it works," she said. "Everybody is filtering in. It just takes time."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/11/army-looking-add-female-infantry-armor-soldiers-new-posts.html

waltky
11-27-2017, 06:52 AM
Army Takes a Steady, Cautious Approach to Women in Infantry...

Army Takes a Steady, Cautious Approach to Women in Infantry
27 Nov 2017 | The young Army infantry recruits lined up in full combat gear, guns at the ready. At the signal, a soldier in front kicked in the door and they burst into the room, swiveling to check around the walls for threats. "You're dead!" one would-be enemy yelled out from a dark corner, the voice slightly higher than the others echoing through the building.


It was 18-year-old Kirsten, training to become one of the Army's first women serving as infantry soldiers. "I want to be one of the females to prove to everybody else that just because you're a female, doesn't mean you can't do the same things as a male," she said, describing her brother — an infantry soldier — as motivation. "I also wanted to one-up him." Kirsten is among more than 80 women who have gone to recruit training at Fort Benning, Georgia, since a ban on them serving in combat jobs was lifted. Twenty-two have graduated. More than 30 were still in training late last month, working toward graduation. The recruits' last names are being withheld by The Associated Press because some women have faced bullying on social media. Somewhat smaller in stature than some of her male comrades, Kirsten gave up a Division I soccer scholarship to become an infantry soldier. In body armor, helmet and rucksack, she looks like just any other grunt.

A bunkmate, Gabriella, says the women push each other. "Today during our ruck march we were, like, directly across from each other and I would constantly look over at her," Gabriella said of Kirsten. "We kinda just kept looking at each other and we're, like, all right, we're both doing it, we're passing these guys and stuff. We definitely have goals to be better than the guys." The Army's introduction of women into the infantry has moved steadily but cautiously this year. As home to the previously all-male infantry and armor schools, Fort Benning had to make $35 million in renovations, including female dorm rooms, security cameras, and monitoring stations. Laundry was an early challenge. For years, the men washed clothes any time at night. Now, there are alarms and schedules. A "female" sign goes on the door when needed.


http://images02.military.com/media/global/newscred/female-army-recruit-1200-27-nov-2017-ts600.png
U.S. Army recruit Kirsten practices building clearing tactics with male recruits at Ft. Benning, Ga. She is one of a handful of women training to become infantry soldiers

The women also balked at the early plan to put their living quarters on a separate floor from their squadmates. So base leaders now use one of four main sleeping bays to house the women. Cameras keep constant watch on the bay door and the stairs, and there's always a woman at the monitoring station. "There's nothing they dislike more than to be separated," said Col. Kelly Kendrick, the brigade commander. He said the women just want to "fit in and do the same as everybody else." This is the third class of recruits at Benning to include women. When they're not sleeping or washing clothes, they're completely integrated into their units. As sun peeked over the horizon on an October morning, dozens of infantry recruits spread across the Fort Benning field going through their morning PT drills. In the dark mist, it was difficult to tell one from another as they powered through situps and pushups.

On that day, only two of five battalions training were integrated. There still aren't enough women to spread across all the units. The shortcoming has created challenges. In the last class, only four women graduated, so filling rotations for guard duty all night was a problem. There weren't enough women to cover every hour, so others had to fill in. As women drop out, those remaining are moved to new companies to maintain balance within units, said Lt. Col Sam Edwards, commander of 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry regiment. More than 36 percent of Benning's women have left — about twice the rate of men. Injuries have sidelined other women who plan to restart the training. Army leaders are closely watching the integration to track injury and performance trends and ensure there are no problems. "It was a boys club for a long time," Kendrick said. "You have to be professional." Recruits seem unfazed.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/11/27/army-takes-steady-cautious-approach-women-infantry.html)

Peter1469
11-27-2017, 06:48 PM
God, you have to keep a female on guard in the barracks? In my basic / AIT class we got 4-5 hours of sleep a night. If you got tagged for guard duty, you got less.

It the article above these women would all likely have to get less sleep to be on guard duty to protect the female side of the barracks. That hurts training time for the following day.

waltky
03-14-2018, 04:32 PM
First Female Carrier CO in History?...
:cool2:
Could This Be the First Female Carrier CO in History?
9 Mar 2018 - Don't forget this name: Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt. Bauernschmidt made history in 2016 when she became the first female executive officer of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.


Now, many think she may become the first woman to command a U.S. aircraft carrier. Bauernschmidt is currently the XO of the USS Abraham Lincoln. In 1994, as she was about to choose her career path and graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, the rules changed. Congress lifted the ban on women serving on combat ships and aircraft. Doors previously closed to her as a woman in the Navy were now open. "For the United States Navy, what it did was open up our ability to go on warships in areas of conflict," Bauernschmidt said in an interview with a local Fox TV affiliate in her hometown of Milwaukee. "Up until that point, [in] all the previous classes that graduated, women did not have that opportunity."

She chose the aviation route, flew helicopters, and did several tours on both coasts and overseas. She also served as an instructor and as a liaison to the State Department on global women's issues. After completing the Navy's Nuclear Power School in Goose Creek, South Carolina, she was chosen as the first female XO to serve on a carrier.


https://images03.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2018-03/amy-bauernschmidt-1800.jpg?itok=ojk9t9k6
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, executive officer of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) speaks during the Women's History Month observance on the ship's mess deck.

Asked about her role in history for a Navy news story, Bauernschmidt referenced her mother as a pivotal part of her success when she said, "I take it all back to something I learned very early on from a very important woman in my life. Never pass up an opportunity."

Bauernschmidt may be on her way to becoming the first female carrier commanding officer, but first she'll leave the USS Lincoln for her next job, as CO of the USS Anchorage, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. Following that tour, she will be screened for another command and, if things work out, she could get the nod to be a carrier CO.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/03/09/could-be-first-female-carrier-co-history.html

Peter1469
03-14-2018, 04:34 PM
No reason why a qualified woman couldn't do that job.

waltky
05-15-2018, 02:30 PM
Body Armor Fitted for Women...
:cool2:
Dunford Pushes Services to Move Faster on Body Armor Fitted for Women
14 May 2018 - The services have to speed up the process of getting body armor fitted for female troops into the field, Dunford said.


The services have to speed up the process of getting body armor fitted for female troops into the field, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said. "We knew it would take some time" to deliver specially fitted body armor, particularly in smaller sizes, to accommodate women once then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opened up all combat billets to women in 2016, Dunford told the Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee last week. "We knew in 2016 that the standard equipment -- particularly as women began to occupy fields where they hadn't historically been and they were wearing combat armor, packs, those kinds of things [that] had been built for the average male and not the average female -- that we would have to adjust that," he explained.

Dunford said each of the services is working to make changes in the standard sizes of body armor. "It is taking some time, but I can assure you they are all attentive to it," he said in response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "We've seen the integration of women into the front lines," Murkowski said, but "equipment requirements for women are lagging. Currently, only the Army has women-specific body armor, but quantities are so low that I understand it's only issued to women who are deploying and not during any initial entry or unit training."


https://images04.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2018-03/buns-uniforms-1800.jpg?itok=XlgFpEAz
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Cheryl Rogers grins as 2nd Lt. Chelsea Adams helps her into the new Generation III Female Improved Outer Tactical Vest at Fort Stewart, Ga.

The initial efforts in 2016 to come up with better fitting body armor, and also lighten the equipment load, were led by then-Lt. Gen. Michael Williamson, now retired, who was military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. "We've added eight additional sizes, based on a better understanding of the stature" of soldiers, both male and female, Williamson told a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in March 2016. "It's not just being smaller, it's proportions" when it comes to women soldiers, he said. "That's why there are so many additional sizes. Anybody who has worn a piece of body armor knows it's inconvenient enough without being able to appropriately size it." "We approach the soldier protection system from the level that we always want to find ways to improve its capability but also lighten the load -- whether you are talking about the protective vest or you are talking about the helmet," Williamson said.

He said the weight problem is gender neutral. "It has nothing to do with whether you are a male or female. We can't burden our soldiers with more weight." The military recently also began addressing an additional problem for women troops: accommodating protective equipment for longer hair. As reported by Military.com, recent presentations by the Army and the Marine Corps for the Pentagon's Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services included changes to ensure gear fits correctly for women with hair buns. At a presentation in March, Army Lt. Col. Ginger L. Whitehead, product manager for Soldier Protective Equipment, showed a new version of the Female Improved Outer Tactical Vest, or FIOTV, that includes a yoke-and-collar assembly that dips in the back to accommodate a hair bun, along with other fit improvements to offer better ballistic protection for women.

https://www.military.com/kitup/daily-news/2018/05/14/dunford-pushes-services-move-faster-body-armor-fitted-women.html

waltky
08-11-2018, 08:53 PM
30% of Female Marines Still Opting Out of Pull-Ups...
:rollseyes:
30 Percent of Female Marines Still Opting Out of Pull-Ups on Their PFTs (https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/10/30-percent-female-marines-still-opting-out-pull-ups-their-pfts.html)10 Aug 2018 -- The number of female Marines opting out of pull-ups is down from 35 percent in 2017.


More female Marines chose pull-ups on their physical fitness test in 2018 than did last year, but about a third of all women still opted for the alternative exercise on the upper-body strength portion of their annual exam. Nearly two years after the flexed-arm hang was axed from the Marine Corps (http://www.military.com/marine-corps)' PFT, about 30 percent of female Marines chose to do pushups in place of pull-ups in 2018. Less than 3 percent of male Marines chose pushups instead of pull-ups this year. The number of female Marines opting out of pull-ups is down from 35 percent in 2017, though, and the head of the Marine Corps' Force Fitness Division expects the number will continue shrinking. "It's not an easy test -- it's the hardest one of all the services," Col. Stephen Armes told Military.com. "... But female Marines are disproving the [idea that they can't do pull-ups] on a pretty regular scale."


Of the nearly 10,000 women who did perform pull-ups on their 2018 PFT, many are exceeding the number required to get full marks, Armes said. More than a third of those female Marines busted out nine or more on the test. Women under 45 need between six to 10 pull-ups -- depending on their age -- to earn full marks. No Marine can achieve a maximum PFT score without choosing pull-ups in the new system. Opting out of pull-ups also makes it more difficult to achieve a first-class score, the highest level. The requirement for women to choose between pull-ups and pushups was just one change in the biggestoverhaul of the service's physical fitness test (https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/07/01/marine-corps-rolls-biggest-fitness-standard-overhaul-40-years.html)in decades. Scoring got tougher across-the-board when the changes went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. That has led to more failures and fewer first- and second-class scores. "It's pretty much tracking where we expected," Armes said. "Our target has always been about a 70-20-9 percent split from first, second and third class. In 2016, we were way above that."



https://images01.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2018-08/female-pullups-1800.jpg?itok=_26R5XkA


Lance Cpl. Katelyn M. Hunter conducts pullups during an initial assessment at Camp Foster, Dec. 12, 2012.




Before the event and scoring changes, 84 percent of Marines were earning first-class PFTs. That number has now dropped down to about 70 percent. Now, more Marines' scores are falling in the second- and third-class buckets. Nearly 20 percent of Marines earned a second-class PFT score this year, up from about 13 percent in 2009. More than 7 percent got a thi-class score this year, up from just about 1 percent two years ago. Failure rates are also up, which Armes attributes to new Marine Force Fitness Instructors -- noncommissioned officers with special skills who help improve a unit's physical training and nutrition regimens. They're enforcing testing standards, Armes added. It might not be easy to cheat on your PFT run time, he said, but Marines might have been dropping their arms too low on their crunches or kipping their legs to help them get more pull-ups.


Now, Marines are being dinged for that, he said. This year, 2.2 percent of Marines failed their PFT, up slightly from 1.9 percent last year. Since any Marine who chooses to do pushups in place of pull-ups can earn a maximum of only 270 out of 300 on the test, Armes urges all leathernecks to keep working toward the pull-ups. "I'm glad to see more males and females doing pull-ups -- that's a good trend," he said. "It's going to get them to that 300 points, and it's the harder [exercise]."


https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/10/30-percent-female-marines-still-opting-out-pull-ups-their-pfts.html

Mr.Soxes
08-11-2018, 09:04 PM
30% of Female Marines Still Opting Out of Pull-Ups...
:rollseyes:
30 Percent of Female Marines Still Opting Out of Pull-Ups on Their PFTs (https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/10/30-percent-female-marines-still-opting-out-pull-ups-their-pfts.html)10 Aug 2018 -- The number of female Marines opting out of pull-ups is down from 35 percent in 2017.

I wish I could opted out of things when I was in the Army!:afro:

Peter1469
08-12-2018, 04:16 AM
There is no such thing as opting out in the Army.

Mr.Soxes
08-12-2018, 03:08 PM
There is no such thing as opting out in the Army.

Sure there is I always seen people of color and especially married soldiers get out of and skirt all kinds of field exercises.:vomit:

Peter1469
10-12-2018, 05:28 PM
Update (https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/11/has-combat-arms-gender-integration-been-successful-the-army-will-let-you-know-in-2020/): the Army's pilot program to integrate women into combat arms is ongoing. They won't make an official announcement until sometime in 2020. But they are publicly optimistic. However, after the initial burst of women volunteering for combat unit training, it has gone done. The question may become whether enough women are interest in combat arms to implement it. You can't convert barracks and other facilities for co-ed if there are only 500 women in Army combat arms. They are going to need a lot more than that to make it worth the cost.