Marine Corps to Open Infantry Officer Course to Women

[Random8145]

OMG...that's the service community selection standard? Remember...aviation went through all of this crap...PAINFULLY...in the last two decades, and one day we understood that the airplanes just didn't care. Nor did the division leads, the section leads, the wingmen, the maintenance troops...well, you get the idea.

But flying a plane versus carrying 140 lbs of gear over rugged terrain are very different things. There is a significant size and strength differential between men and women. That's why we have separate men's and women's sports teams and separate physical standards for male and female police officers and firefighters. We even have separate standards for men and women in the current military. Why is this? Because if women had to adhere to the standards of the men, they'd disqualify a whole lot of women from military service. Why is that? Because women are physically weaker. That's just nature.

 

[LFDtoUSMC]

After having been in both a squadron and an infantry battalion, I can tell you that it IS different. There is a physical component to the work of an Infantryman that isn't necessarily prevalent in the squadron. I'm all about women serving in the infantry, but much like most fire departments - they have to pass a standardized physical test, where there are no gender normalized scores.

I can say with absolute certainty (yes, I know absolutes are taboo and should be avoided when making blanket statements) that said physical standards were lowered to allow more women to pass. Whether it be the standardized CPAT or an individual departments physical agility test; all the standards are lowered (slightly, or more than slightly) to allow women to pass. Then there are some departments that just skip the whole physical standards test and hire whoever they want. Cough, quotas, cough.

Edit: I wish that wasn't how it is. But, it is. For some reason legislators don't realize that public safety positions should be filled by the BEST qualified candidate. Red, yellow, pink, purple, male or female. It shouldn't matter.