Posted on 04/08/2014 8:07:42 AM PDT by don-o
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps commandant has reacted swiftly to a female Marine officer’s complaint that women are unfairly precluded from trying a second time to pass the prestigious Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course, when men can have a second try.
In response to a question from a female Army officer at an Atlantic Council forum April 1, Gen. James F. Amos said he has ordered a change in the rules and lavished praise not only on Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Sage Santangelo, who protested the restriction, but on all his female Marines.
And, Amos said, he offered Santangelo a chance to go to Afghanistan while she awaits an opening in flight training.
“I got an answer back in about 14 nanoseconds. … So we’re cutting orders right now. Sage is going to go to Afghanistan, to join the Marine Expeditionary Brigade Forward over there,” the commandant said.
The question was sparked by an opinion article Santangelo wrote in the March 30 Washington Post in which she graphically described the tremendous physical ordeal young Marine officers endure in trying to qualify to lead Marine infantry. Despite her great desire and effort, she was physically unable to complete the initial endurance test, as did 25 male officers and the three other female Marines who tried that day.
So far, 14 women officers have tried to pass the 17-week infantry officers course at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and all have been unable to complete it. Thirteen enlisted female Marines, however, have passed the somewhat less difficult basic infantry training school at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The women have been given those chances because the Marine Corps, along with the Army, is attempting to determine if they can open ground combat jobs, including infantry, to women. Although military women are now able to serve in many combat-related positions, including aviation, military police and, for the Army, field artillery, they still are banned from the infantry.
Putting women through the infantry qualification schools is part of the Corps’ tests to see if they can meet the tough physical standards now required, and if those standards are necessary.
The Marines also are forming an experimental unit that would give a group of volunteers a chance to see if women can perform ground combat tasks over a prolonged period.
But in her article, Santangelo complained that her training in the Marine Officer Candidate School was not as physically demanding as what was required of male officer candidates, so she was not as prepared for the infantry course.
And, she noted, the men who failed the initial qualification test could apply for a second chance, but she could not.
Amos said he read Santangelo’s article, which he said “was superb,” and invited her to his Pentagon office to discuss the issue.
“When she brought up the point about the inability to recycle. … I went back to my folks and said, ‘we got to fix this.’ So we are,” he said.
Amos explained that the rule about not getting a second chance was intended to protect the unsuccessful officer’s ability to get into their future military occupational specialty and be positioned for the critical selection for a regular commission, rather than staying as a reserve officer, which limits their potential for a career. But, he said, “we’ll take care of them.”
Amos said he “bristled at the headline” on the Post article, which said the female officer “failed,” saying it “took enormous courage” for Santangelo and the other female Marines to attempt to win a position in what has been a male-dominated field for the Corps’ 238-year history. “I’m a big fan of our females,” he said.
In his presentation and answers to other questions, Amos spelled out the challenges he faces in trying to shape the Corps to continue to meet the nation’s challenges, when the fiscal constraints imposed by sequestration force him to reduce his force structure to have enough money to maintain combat readiness in the near term and for modernization for future capability.
And he strongly defended his top acquisition priority, the short takeoff, vertical landing F-35B, and said his top ground combat need, the Amphibious Combat Vehicle, is moving ahead and he will soon announce the road map for acquiring the initial replacement for the Vietnam-vintage AAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles.
Yeah,,, in the old corps, can you imagine failing a school and whining about USMC policies in a Washington Post Op Ed?
I’m not even sure WHAT would have happened to such an idiot,,,
Agreed. Those terms mean a certain change in standards.
Jarhead, I knew that before I graduated from college. Long story short: after being cleared in an investigation on charges I was staging a "mass protest" over the selection of the next cadet battalion commander, the school newspaper wanted to interview me for their last issue of the school year.
I told them "hell no!", because I knew they had an anti-military agenda, and I would merely be a pawn in their game. Additionally, I just wanted to move on with my life after a month of being in the crosshairs of that investigation. Imagine being six weeks from graduation and commissioning, and have it being ripped away over trumped up charges.
“Women got cut no slack there. Which surprised the heck out of me considering it is SF.”
Being SF. . .how can you tell the men from the women, and besides, because it is SF, the girly-men are less masculine than the women. . .right?
Just kidding. . . .(no slam against your daughter)
Nailed it.
“To save their pensions they caved to the Clown threats.”
No different than your average Republican Congressman and Senator.
“And, Amos said, he offered Santangelo a chance to go to Afghanistan while she awaits an opening in flight training.”
To do what, Commandant? Lead an infantry platoon? After she failed to complete the Officer’s Infantry Course?
You obviously didn't read what the woman had to say. Her piece represents the finest example I have seen of what equal opportunity should be. She is an honor to the Marine Corp, its high standards and traditions.
Next time take the time to get yourself informed.
Yet another idiot shooting his mouth from the hip without being informed. Read what the woman wrote and argue against it. She 100% supported the high standards of the Marine Corp and never said a single word about lowering them. She simply wants to meet those high standards and have the same opportunity to do so that men have.
The General at least took the time to become informed before acting.
Read first before firing your mouth. The woman said not one word about lowering standards, only about having equal opportunity to meet them.
Read what she wrote and then try to argue against it.
You have a point if idiots like you are any example. It is obvious you didn't read a word of what the woman had to say. She represented well the fine honor and history of the Marine Corp and our future would look a lot brighter if there were more of her type and less of yours.
If she has her way, more WM will fail in the OCS training leading to fewer female officers across the board.
Read what the woman had to say and then tell me who represents the higher standards, a highly motivated achiever like her or an uninformed idiot like you?
Are the standards necessary??
What do you think?
Should our combat Marines be required to meet standards?
Or is that too 20th century for you?
You realize obama purged all of the officers that were against his radical transformation of the military, right?
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?
Ahhh...she's guilty of being a woman so it doesn't matter what her skills and capabilities are.
Thank you for the politely modulated tone of your post.
I, personally, don’t believe women belong in the services.
Have a nice day.
She's not asking for an easing in the requirements. She's asking why she can't take a second shot at it when her male counterparts who failed can. What's wrong with that?
So take out serving in the Army and Marines and what "vital role in our Armed Forces" is left? Only Navy and Air Force?
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