Why the Marines want to raise the bar to join the infantry — for both men and women

[rangerrebew]

Why the Marines want to raise the bar to join the infantry — for both men and women
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff September 25, 2015

U.S. Marines attending the Infantry Officer Course conduct fast-rope training near Yuma, Ariz., on March 26, 2015. Photo by Lance Cpl. Jodson B. Graves/ Marine Corps)

After three years of preparing to possibly open ground combat jobs to women, the Marine Corps biggest takeaway has little to do with women or combat. Instead, the “single-most important result” of the process has to do with the standards — or lack thereof — when it comes to screening and preparing the individual Marine infantryman.

The finding, part of a 14-page Aug. 18 Marine Corps memo leaked to the San Diego Union-Tribune, is just one small part of the document’s larger assessment of the Marine Corps’ plan to fully gender integrate its forces by a Pentagon mandated Jan. 1, 2016, deadline.

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/marine-infantry-standards-leaked-cmc-memo

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Why the Marines want to raise the bar to join the infantry — for both men and women
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff September 25, 2015

U.S. Marines attending the Infantry Officer Course conduct fast-rope training near Yuma, Ariz., on March 26, 2015. Photo by Lance Cpl. Jodson B. Graves/ Marine Corps)

After three years of preparing to possibly open ground combat jobs to women, the Marine Corps biggest takeaway has little to do with women or combat. Instead, the “single-most important result” of the process has to do with the standards — or lack thereof — when it comes to screening and preparing the individual Marine infantryman.

The finding, part of a 14-page Aug. 18 Marine Corps memo leaked to the San Diego Union-Tribune, is just one small part of the document’s larger assessment of the Marine Corps’ plan to fully gender integrate its forces by a Pentagon mandated Jan. 1, 2016, deadline.

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/marine-infantry-standards-leaked-cmc-memo

I can say with absolute certainty that is accurate.  Enlisted infantry training post-bootcamp was always more focused on technical skills rather than things like physical strength and endurance simply because of a lack of time.   Marine brass knew that the ability to "pass" that course (it had an overwhelming pass rate even before women) did not accurately measure whether or not graduates could meet the full physical demands of being an infantryman.  The weeding out process occurred during bootcamp, and more informally when Marines are assigned to their MOS.  So when a small percentage of women started passing and the SJW's started celebrating, the seeds of the problem were sown. Unfit infantry"men".

The Infantry Officer's Course, though, has always been a real ball buster.  It's more physically demanding even than OCS, which is more demanding physically than bootcamp (that's according to some of my enlisted marines who were assigned to OCS for temp duty).   That's why no women have passed IOC -- it mirrors the actual requirements of being in the infantry much better than does the School of Infantry.