3 Female Marines pass Infantry School

And the Marines F it up by not letting them go into the infantry. Way to keep all the standards the same, and yet somehow end up with a double-standard.

The end of one era and the start of another. I imagine they were somewhat surprised that any of the 15 completed it. 80% is a hell of an attrition rate. Give 'em some time to sort it out Scout. If they don't there will be more folks than you lighting a fire under their butts. They did go into it knowing this would be the outcome. I'm confident there is some payoff down the road for them... unless Bruno's cartoon continues to hold true.
 
The end of one era and the start of another. I imagine they were somewhat surprised that any of the 15 completed it. 80% is a hell of an attrition rate. Give 'em some time to sort it out Scout. If they don't there will be more folks than you lighting a fire under their butts. They did go into it knowing this would be the outcome. I'm confident there is some payoff down the road for them... unless Bruno's cartoon continues to hold true.

In one of the few things the Army has done smartly with this, the Army will not let women go through training without making the MOS available to them.

I know you're a Marine homer, but this is just stupid.
 
91 lifts for men, 61 lifts for women sounds like changes in standards to me.

That's to reach the maximum standard. Is the minimum the same?

EDIT: That's part of the CFT, which is not infantry-only. Sounds like the standards for the infantry course were unchanged.
 
In one of the few things the Army has done smartly with this, the Army will not let women go through training without making the MOS available to them.

I know you're a Marine homer, but this is just stupid.

I definitely agree the Army has this well under control. Don't understand why the Marines can't just copy them. My first thought was berthing, but hell, they already handle that in the Navy, so.... Hopefully they work it out soon. I agree it is kind of stupid as is, but it is also a transition for them.
 
Maintaining the bar

On the CFT, which is a test all Marines do regardless of MOS, there is a difference in the maxes for men and women just as there is for the PFT. So the statement about not lowering the standards is (technically) true, since those are the existing standards. Don't know about minimums off the top of my head but I'm confident there is a difference there as well.

I had a similar thought cross my mind with respect to pullups. Max for men is 20. Women need only do a 75 sec (?) flexed arm hang or 1 pullup. I think starting next year the max for women changes to 3 pullups. I also think (but can't swear to it) that the flexed arm hang is out.

Both the lifts and the pullups are, of course, measures of upper body strength - and the differences concern me. Nevertheless, they cut it on the rest of the course so I have to assume they're OK. Also, we don't know if these women did pullups or hangs or what.

They really need a women to complete the Infantry Officer course, which no one has done yet and the few attempting it have failed to complete it for one reason or another.
 
Yeah, I thought that 12 mile hump seemed kind of short - but I guess that's the standard now. According to articles I've read it's the humping that's been the big killer on the women in Infantry Officer school (or whatever the hell its called).
 
Comment section is interesting, some people were suggesting that they had inside knowledge stating that rules were bent along the way. Take it with a grain of salt I suppose.
 
in 1976 we did 27 MILES (not K's) with full combat loads. But that has long changed.

SOI (which these young ladies just passed), is NOT the Infantry Officer's Course.

Yeah, I understand that. They're just connected in my mind when it comes to women. 3 women have now completed SOI. None have completed the Infantry Officer's Course. One reason in other articles I read indicated that the "constant" humping just wore on a woman's body, and particularly the bones, much much more than the men. Just thought it was worth mentioning during the discussion of the hump.
 
First of all, good job by all those Marines, including the three women.

Second, although I do my share of questioning SOP, I'm actually okay with the fact that, currently, they won't get the infantry MOS.* The Corps made it clear up front (and, from what I understand, it is part of the reason not a lot of women are volunteering for the IOC), and they explained that the current set-up is for testing. I think it's a good thing, not a bad thing, that they are testing with real data from having enlisted and officer women Marines going through the relevant infantry qualifying training. Again, they made it clear up front how this was going to work.

**And no, the Corps did not ask my opinion or care that "I'm okay" with their decision.
 
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