First female Marine drill instructors graduate from San Diego course
The first female Drill Instructor (DI) School graduates stand in front of the DI Monument at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, Dec. 16, 2020. These Marines will be training the first female platoon at MCRD, San Diego. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Grace J. Kindred.)
By Erika I. Ritchie | eritchie@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: December 16, 2020 at 6:52 p.m. | UPDATED: December 17, 2020 at 11:43 a.m.
Sgt. Stephanie Fahl is shouldering great expectations.
Eight years ago, the 33-year-old San Diego resident went through boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina. Her drill instructors inspired her then and she hopes now to carry that same motivation forward as she helps to forge the Corps’ newest Marines.
A Marine with Drill Instructor School attends a graduation ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Dec. 16, 2020. During drill instructor school, Marines developed leadership skills, mastered drill, met physical fitness requirements, and learned how to make Marines. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Grace J. Kindred.)
On Wednesday, Dec. 16, Fahl and two other women, Sgt. Ikea Kaufman and Sgt. Stephanie Jordi, made Marine Corps history by becoming the first females to graduate from a gender-integrated drill instructor course at the 100-year-old Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/12/16/first-female-marine-drill-instructors-graduate-from-an-integrated-course-at-san-diego-recruit-depot/
