Rocky C
03-19-16, 11:49 AM
Female Marine officers and staff noncommissioned officers will soon be assigned to infantry battalions.
With all combat arms jobs now open to women, qualified enlisted Marines could soon be moving into infantry battalions. Since no female officer has graduated from Infantry Officer Course, though, there currently are no women to lead them.
To begin building that cadre of women leaders, Marine officials will soon assign female officers and staff NCOs to infantry battalions where they will serve in support roles, officials said.
These female Marines or sailors will help male infantrymen adjust to the changes in their units before female grunts join their battalions, said Col. Anne Weinberg, deputy director of manpower integration.
Marines gear up to train more women now that all combat jobs open
“I think there’s a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ aspect in some of these units,” Weinberg said at a Thursday media roundtable.
The female leaders’ main responsibility will be to assist the entire unit, not just the women grunts, Weinberg said.
“We really didn’t look at them as helping the junior female Marines,” she said. “We really looked at helping the unit writ large — as a resource to the commander, as a sounding board.”
However, the female officers and staff NCOs’ secondary mission will be to serve as a resource for any female infantrymen who join the battalions, Weinberg said.
“If they feel like there’s something they can’t talk to their male leader about, just to have that same gender face,” she said.
The cadre of women leaders is expected to be in place in infantry battalions at least 90 days before the first female Marines arrive, Weinberg said. The first poolees are expected to ship to recruit training for infantry MOSs in October, so the earliest they would join infantry battalions would be early next year.
However, 233 female Marines have already graduated from Infantry Training Battalion or other MOS schools previously closed to women, she said. Those Marines have the ability to make lateral moves into infantry and non-load-bearing MOSs before October.
“If we do get some lat-movers, we’ll get the female leadership in place sooner rather than later,” Weinberg said.
At least three female Marines who have qualified for combat arms jobs have told Marine Corps Times they intend to apply for lateral moves.
Female Marines on women in combat: 'We're ready'
About 200 female Marine leaders are already assigned to units in other MOSs that had been restricted to men only, Weinberg said. The first poolees are expected to ship to recruit training in June for those MOSs, such as tanks and artillery, said Stephen Wittle with Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
In May and June, all Marines will receive two days of training on the Marine Corps’ gender integration plan, Weinberg said.
“We’re doing it for the entire Marine Corps, not just the previously closed MOSs,” she said. “[It's a] great opportunity to take people aside and focus on this for two days and have an opportunity to talk about institutional change, unconscious bias.”
In addition to learning about why the Marine Corps has opened all MOSs to women, Marines will have to complete training vignettes, Weinberg said.
“Some of the scenarios are: You’re in the field; you only have this certain amount of space for billeting and you’ve got three women and six guys; how are you going to billet?” she said. “Just some common sense things that these units probably haven’t had to deal with.”
With all combat arms jobs now open to women, qualified enlisted Marines could soon be moving into infantry battalions. Since no female officer has graduated from Infantry Officer Course, though, there currently are no women to lead them.
To begin building that cadre of women leaders, Marine officials will soon assign female officers and staff NCOs to infantry battalions where they will serve in support roles, officials said.
These female Marines or sailors will help male infantrymen adjust to the changes in their units before female grunts join their battalions, said Col. Anne Weinberg, deputy director of manpower integration.
Marines gear up to train more women now that all combat jobs open
“I think there’s a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ aspect in some of these units,” Weinberg said at a Thursday media roundtable.
The female leaders’ main responsibility will be to assist the entire unit, not just the women grunts, Weinberg said.
“We really didn’t look at them as helping the junior female Marines,” she said. “We really looked at helping the unit writ large — as a resource to the commander, as a sounding board.”
However, the female officers and staff NCOs’ secondary mission will be to serve as a resource for any female infantrymen who join the battalions, Weinberg said.
“If they feel like there’s something they can’t talk to their male leader about, just to have that same gender face,” she said.
The cadre of women leaders is expected to be in place in infantry battalions at least 90 days before the first female Marines arrive, Weinberg said. The first poolees are expected to ship to recruit training for infantry MOSs in October, so the earliest they would join infantry battalions would be early next year.
However, 233 female Marines have already graduated from Infantry Training Battalion or other MOS schools previously closed to women, she said. Those Marines have the ability to make lateral moves into infantry and non-load-bearing MOSs before October.
“If we do get some lat-movers, we’ll get the female leadership in place sooner rather than later,” Weinberg said.
At least three female Marines who have qualified for combat arms jobs have told Marine Corps Times they intend to apply for lateral moves.
Female Marines on women in combat: 'We're ready'
About 200 female Marine leaders are already assigned to units in other MOSs that had been restricted to men only, Weinberg said. The first poolees are expected to ship to recruit training in June for those MOSs, such as tanks and artillery, said Stephen Wittle with Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
In May and June, all Marines will receive two days of training on the Marine Corps’ gender integration plan, Weinberg said.
“We’re doing it for the entire Marine Corps, not just the previously closed MOSs,” she said. “[It's a] great opportunity to take people aside and focus on this for two days and have an opportunity to talk about institutional change, unconscious bias.”
In addition to learning about why the Marine Corps has opened all MOSs to women, Marines will have to complete training vignettes, Weinberg said.
“Some of the scenarios are: You’re in the field; you only have this certain amount of space for billeting and you’ve got three women and six guys; how are you going to billet?” she said. “Just some common sense things that these units probably haven’t had to deal with.”