Marines may put women in West Coast combat training The U.S. Marine Corps is considering whether to allow women to attend combat training in Southern California, which currently admits only male Marines, according to a report. Marine Corps officials told the Associated Press the shift could occur as early as next spring, which would let women attend combat training at Camp Pendleton. Currently, female Marines can only get combat training in Parris Island, South Carolina, while men are trained at both locations. Top officials are also considering a plan to expand boot camp options for women. Today, all female recruits attend boot camp at Parris Island, and male recruits attend their initial training either there or in San Diego. The Marine Corps is the only service that separates men and women for parts of boot camp, a differentiation that has earned criticism from lawmakers. The Marine Corps is also the only service to allow half of its recruits to go through boot camp without female recruits. Women make up 8.4 percent of the Marine Corps, and the service has been examining integration of male and female Marine recruits for more than a year.
WOMEN IN MILITARY COMBAT ROLES As the U.S. catches up, questions remain
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s the U.S. moves to open up combat positions to women, it’s catching up with other countries that have been doing it for years. But the experience and in these countries including Russia, North Korea, South Korea, Canada, Australia, France, Israel and more suggests that access to combat jobs doesn’t lead directly to equal treatment within the ranks. In Israel, most men and women perform compulsory military service. The Israel Defense Force plays a number of roles that go far beyond just defending the country. Traditions break down fast during times of war. History is full of examples where women assume dramatic new roles that
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But they were barred from combat positions until Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that we were ending that policy. The U.S. has plenty of examples to learn from. Many European countries along with Canada and Israel have perby Richard T. Matz mitted women in combat roles for years, never would have been possible in times citing gender equality. Some communist of peace. The pressing demands of World countries also turn to female soldiers for War II had many countries call on women reasons of ideology or propaganda. to bolster their forces in jobs ranging from nurses to front-line soldiers. Physical concerns Hundreds of thousands of American The Center for Military Readiness, an women served in the U.S. military during organization that seeks to limit women’s that war, and U.S. women were allowed to participation in the military, stated that fly military aircraft for the first time. Some “Female soldiers are, on average, shorter countries desperate for fighters like the and smaller than men, with 45–50 perSoviet Union put women in combat roles. cent less upper body strength and 25–30 When wars end, old rules can often re- percent less aerobic capacity, which is esturn. The U.S. Congress mandated in 1948 sential for endurance.� that women should be limited to 2 percent Motherhood accounts for 50 percent of of the force. Women have managed to hospitalizations among active-duty female steadily expand their roles in the military troops. since then, and they now make up 15 perWOMEN, continued on Page 12 cent of the U.S. military.
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