[CMAC51]

Whiner. About years ago, my daughter was offered a commission in the Marines. She worked with the recruiter (a great guy, BTW) as to the physical requirements she would have to meet. She trained *on her own* and periodically with the recruiter. She was able to meet the standard required for a basic male recruit. My point? If this woman was a self starter like my kid she’d have trained on her own to prepare, not whined that the USMC didn’t make her train hard enough. Always someone else’s fault. My daughter ended up turning down the commission for several personal reasons. She did later go through SFPD academy (8 months!) which was brutal. Women got cut no slack there. Which surprised the heck out of me considering it is SF.

The woman wasn't a whiner, she equalled or exceeded what your daughter achieved. At the time she wrote the piece she undoubtedly could exceed what your daughter could. She stated a simple fact that given the same opportunity as her male counterparts she believes she can meet the same standard as her male counterparts. What's wrong with that? Isn't that what equal opportunity should be about?

[ChildOfThe60s]

OK, I’ll re-read it. I may have been too quick off the keyboard.

[ChildOfThe60s]

OK, for the most part I concede your point. The rational for giving men a second chance while denying the women made no sense to me.

However, I still take her to task (just a little) in the complaint that her OCS training was inadequate because it was easier than the men. She is right that it shouldn’t be easier. But I believe that in spite of that (or because of it), she had the ultimate responsibility to know what was expected of her in the Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course and prepared physically if needed on her own initiative.

I would say that to a man if he said OCS was not enough training.

It’s all beyond what I would have been willing to do, so I am not criticizing from a “holier than thou” position. I can honestly say, based on a lot of experience watching, that whatever my daughter’s ultimate capability to do something was, she ALWAYS was fully aware of what was to be expected of her ahead of jumping in. She’s somewhat over the top in that regard.

[Hulka]

It is taking a public position rather than using the chain-of-command that is appalling.

Debate the merits of her argument but you cannot debate her acting inappropriately by writing a public piece, ‘whining’ in a way, rather than exhausting chain-of-command and IG opportunities that exist in the military to right wrongs.

She went public to force the USMC to cave, to bend to her position by using external political pressures. . .and that is nothing to celebrate.

Others may disagree.