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First Female Marine Students Arrived at SOI-West

First Female Marine Students Arrived at SOI-West

The first female Marine students arrived at School of Infantry-West (SOI-W) to begin the first phase of Marine Combat Training (MCT) on Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 6, 2018.

This marks the first male-female integrated Marine Combat Training Company on the West Coast.

“It is important, one team one fight, at the end of the day it’s to show the Marine Corps can produce [Marines] regardless of gender and complete any mission.” Said Sgt. Ambar Gonzalez, a combat instructor with Lima Company, SOI-West.

Prior to the West Coast’s integration, female Marines attended MCT training exclusively at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina remains the only depot available for females to attend basic training.

“The Marine Corps has trained all entry-level female Marines, both boot camp at Parris Island and Marine Combat Training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.” said Lt. Col. Dennis L. Hager II, Headquarter and Support Battalion commander. “Starting today, we took 40 of the women from the western regional recruiting offices, and brought them here to Camp Pendleton.”

An additional benefit of the integration is providing families from the West Coast opportunity to see their Marines graduate.

“If families had wanted to observe their daughter from boot camp, or any entry level training school they would have to travel across the country,’ said Hager. “These students are going to have the unique ability to have their families observe their graduation from MCT, from the local area where they came from.”

Marine Combat Training consists of a 29-day course where entry-level Marines in non-infantry related Military Occupational Specialties are taught the basic skills needed to function in a combat environment. Upon completion of MCT, every Marine will have the knowledge and ability to deploy and operate as a basic rifleman.

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Comments

Big Ed - May 18, 2020

This is why we have such a f**ked up military now. The Corp will never be the same again. Chesty is flipping in his grave trust me. There once was a time when you had to earn the eagle globe and anchor as well as the title of Marine. We have lowered the standards so low to accommodate those who are unworthy that it’s become pathetic. Remember the days when you got to recruit training and you were issued one pair of boots and were told that they were your dress shoes, running shoes and work shoes. Where did we go wrong?.

Malcolm Kelso - May 18, 2020

Nuts, clearly the decision was made by someone who never served in a Grunt unit.

Dan - May 18, 2020

Calm down everyone. Read the article. This is Marine Combat Training (MCT) for all Marines regardless of gender who are NOT in the Infantry. They just created an MCT on the west coast where one had existed on the east coast for a number of years. Surely, you want all your Marines trained to fight beyond what they receive in recruit training, especially in the non-linear battlefields of today where everyone is a potential “rifleman.” Ask the Marines in Combat Logistics Regiment and at forward deployed airfields like at Camp Bastion / Leatherneck in Afghanistan in 2012 which did sustain a ground assault.

John - May 18, 2020

The old saying: “Don’t mess with Mother Nature” is ringing in my ears. Two million years ago men evolved into hunters and warriors while women were the gatherers and the keepers of the home fires. The reason their bodies are different is what Mother Nature intended. Good old Albert Einstein defined INSANITY as the repeated effort to accomplish a task expecting different results each time.

John - May 18, 2020

Women in the IDF do not have combat jobs. They tried it and the test failed.

Larry Whittington - May 18, 2020

This is a wreck looking for a place to happen!!

Patrick Dougherty - May 18, 2020

One more thing, the women in Israeli infantry are assigned to two battalions. Both of those battalions are assigned to defense of the Egypt, Jordan border. So if they fight it is not in offensive combat, where they are attacking enemy infantry or defensive position. This is a huge difference. They are also not allowed to serve on main battle tanks. So they are used as a last defense and all hands are on deck. Do some research and get your facts straight. Also if you were a POG in the Marine Corps you don’t have the experience in training or what is required on a daily basis in an infantry unit. This integration has been tried numerous times before. The Marine corps spent millions of dollars on this integration study in 2012-2014. They submitted an exhaustive report to the secretary of the navy Ray Mabus. After all the money and all the training the marine corps recommended not to integrate women into combat arms. Mabus said too bad your doing it anyway. So it’s totally political. Good reference on wonderwoman though Otto. Totally legit

Everett B. Wright - May 18, 2020

We have plenty of males in US without weakening are corps by adding girls to weakening are fighting ability . Politicians and feminist have tried to make us more diversified . We need balls and guts in a fight not distractions

Patrick Dougherty - May 18, 2020

Women in the Israeli army are not allowed in offensive ground units. I trained with them in 98. So that argument is gone. It is an undue stressor and will damage combat readiness in infantry units. How many people think that a 19-21 year old woman will not be sleeping with someone in her platoon or squad? Is this good for morale? To call someone a chauvinist because they think this is a bad idea is infuriating. Read Col. John Ripleys testimony before congress on this topic. Much more eloquent than myself and much more qualified to speak on it. If you don’t know who John Ripley is fix yourself.

Daniel Otto - May 18, 2020

My turn to weigh in. I am a MALE Marine, 68 years young, enlisted in the Corps 1968 and got out in 1972. So how do I feel about WM’s taking Combat Training? Unlike all of the chauvinist men that have posted on this, I have to say it’s well overdue. The Israeli Army has had women serving in combat for as long as I can remember (and that country has been at war for as long as I’ve been alive). Case in point is the new Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot, she was a Combat Instructor for two years when she was in their Army. Until you have watched your (non-military) wife go through childbirth, or done so yourself, don’t underestimate the strength a woman has. It’s not just that their threshold for pain is higher than a man’s, but they also have better endurance. Granted, a woman might not possess the strength of her male counterparts, but I’d be willing to bet MY life on them being every bit as ferocious a fighter as most men.

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