The Dispute Of Women Serving In Combat Roles Has Gone Public Between The Marine Corps And Its Civilian Leadership

New York Times: Gender Integration of Marines Brings Out Unusually Public Discord

The Marine Corps and its civilian leadership at the Pentagon are squaring off in an unusually public dispute over whether integrating women into the corps’s all-male combat units will undermine the units’ effectiveness, or whether the male-dominated Marine leadership is cherry-picking justifications to keep women out.

The military is facing a deadline set by the Obama administration to integrate women into all combat jobs by 2016 or ask for specific exemptions. The Marines, with a 93 percent male force dominated by infantry, are widely seen as the branch with the hardest integration task. The Marine Corps has the most units closed to women and still trains male and female recruits separately.

The tension began last week when the Marine Corps released a summary of a nine-month, $36 million study that found that integrated combat units were slower, had more injuries and were less accurate when firing weapons.

WNU Editor: The President and his Secretary of the Navy have made it very clear that women are to serve in combat positions .... and while the Marine Corps have also made it very clear that this will cause problems .... the trend is clear .... women are going to get the opportunity to serve .... whether it is now or later. What's my take .... the Marines are correct in voicing their concerns, but this administration does not care .... ideology takes precedence over objections .... and I am also willing to bet that when problems do arise in the future (and they will), this administration will deny and avoid responsibility.