1/8/2024 0 Comments Women in combat arms![]() ![]() “I was never under any illusions at what level of respect my Marines would have for me if I couldn't run with the fastest of them and look like it didn't bother me if I couldn't do as many pullups as the strongest of them,” Mattis said. Part of what drives the question is the culture of close-combat units, the retired Marine Corps general said. “We don't even have data at this time that I can answer your question,” he added. The secretary said he cannot make a determination about the situation because “so few women have signed up along these lines.” Specifically in infantry, the Marine Corps has 26 enlisted Marines and one officer who are women. The Marine Corps has 113 enlisted women and 29 officers in previously restricted specialties. Currently, 356 women are combat arms soldiers, and 17 women have graduated from the Army’s Ranger School. In 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter directed the services to open all military occupational specialties to women. Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opened the door by removing the ban on women in combat jobs in 2013. The question for the department comes down to whether it is a strength or a weakness to have women in the close-quarter infantry fight, Mattis said. Who grabs a baseball bat and gets between the kids' door and whoever broke in, and who reaches for the phone to call 911? In other words, it goes to the most almost primitive needs of a society to look out for its most vulnerable.”Īt heart, this is the issue DoD faces, Mattis told the cadet who asked him what results he had seen. “In the event of trouble, you're sleeping at night in your family home and you are the dad, mom, whatever. “It’s a very, very tough issue because it goes from some people's perspective of what kind of society do we want,” the secretary said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |