Monday, the United States Marine Corps graduated another group of officers from its grueling Infantry Officer Course. And from what we've heard, and can only imagine, grueling ain't the half of it.
The Marines are a different kind of breed. They aren't even "Marine" or "Private" while in recruit training; they're given other names by their instructors. And their boot camp goes on longer than that of the Army or other services. The Marines' official website says the, uh, "instruction" is so intense all the Marines in the recruiting class form a bond. Then they have to go through something they call the Crucible. We don't even want to know.
And that's just to be a Marine.
If you want to be an officer, you have that ain't-the-half-of-it grueling course first.
For the first time in the Marines' 242 years of service to this nation, a woman graduated from the Infantry Officer Course. It's a 13-week program that, according to a spokesman for the brass, "trains and educates newly selected infantry and ground intelligence officers in leadership, infantry skills, and character required to serve as infantry platoon commanders in the operating forces." To translate from the Parris Island vernacular: This is super hard.
The name of the first woman to graduate wasn't given to the press. She may not want it to be. She may just want to serve her country like any other Marine officer. And should.
It has become increasingly obvious that, should a woman be able to handle all the physical requirements of the infantry, she should be allowed into it. There aren't any arguments against it that haven't already been debunked over the last few decades.
Congratulations, ma'am. And Semper fi.
Editorial on 09/26/2017