Silke Jasso
Seven female Marines are now survivors of some of the most grueling training the U.S. Military has to offer: ground combat. The women are part of an experiment begun back in March, to determine whether women can serve alongside men in theater. A number of females washed out of the training, mostly due to stress fractures from carrying heavy packs. But those who passed are still waiting to see if they will be accepted.
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“I’ve done it. So why can I not do it? If I can physically do it, why can’t I?” asks one of the candidates.
The Pentagon is sifting through data. It’s working with the University of Pittsburgh, collecting facts and figures about male and female Marines’ strength, endurance, speed and marksmanship. The numbers will indicate whether gender makes a difference in a unit’s ability to fight.
But what the data won’t tell is if adding females to the mix disturbs cohesiveness. Some male Marines say even though these females made it through training, they still question their ability to function in real combat – in a real war.
It’s been two years since the Pentagon officially opened ground combat jobs to women. The actual implementation is due to begin in January. But if the experiment shows females in any way weaken the force, it’s likely the Marines will prevail upon the Pentagon to change or revoke the ruling.
