The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Marines to have first female infantry officer
Woman passes tough 13-week training course.
assigntry following graduationvice’scer male The The Course,officer, Thursday. colleaguesgruelingMarinea lieutenantwomanhera servicefrom Corps historic Infantry anticipatedas completedan andthe officialsplans infan- first, Offi-ser-her to said a cisetheter Calif., three-weekat service’sthat Twentyninethe includes service combat traininglive Palms,fire exer- cen-in at a said statementexercisegraded requirementmarked Thursday. the in That final the 13-weekwidely seen course,as some whichof the is toughestitary. About training25 percentin the mil- all students typically wash out.
The woman is the first of three dozen who attempted the course to complete it. She toon is of expectedabout 40 to Marineslead a pla- in a service that is often seen as the most resistant to full gender integration in the with pho- military.year more Marines investigatedtographsleagues graduationa Quantico,officials “warriorThe than class online.It andof a withhas scandalnudea Va.,for breakfast”Monday veterans1,000will grappledsharing knowledgesaid female markin currentwhich threewere withthis col-its in anonymity of on not arrives becauseThethe conditionyet course. historic occurred.nearlythe graduationof They two momentspoke years has after Carter miltary itary’s Ash for then-Defenselast women, remaininglifted the restric- Secre-of an tions part effort istrationforces by fully to the inclusive.make Obama the Officialsadmin- armed shared lieutenant few Thursday.details about the CourseThe Infantryrequires both Officerproficiency as a military officer in the field and the stamina to carry loads of up to 152 pounds for long periods of time. The school begins with a day-long combat endurance test that includes gru- eling hikes through Quanti- co’s rolling, wooded hills, an obstacle course and assess- mentsons assemblyof skills like weap- navand land igation. The lieutenant will join a part of the military that has long been seen as being critical of serving alongside women. Three out of four activeduty infantrymen said they were opposed to full gender integration in a 2012 survey of 54,000 Marines obtained last year through the Freedom of Information Act. Marine officials have argued those sentiments have waned in the last few years, but it’s unclear how much. Kyleanne Hunter, a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Advisory Committee for Women in the Services and former Marine helicopter pilot, said that the new infantry officer have to win over Marines under her command, Hunter said, and cope with outside attention and critics who want to see her fail. “She did something that is really hard, and it’s hard physically and it’s hard mentally,” she said. “Her first challenge is going to be to remain anonymous and just do her job.”