Women set up to fail USMC’s most grueling test

[Jazzy]

At a petite 5’3’’, Sage Santangelo may not look like a combat fighter at first glance. But the female second lieutenant has never let that hold her back from pursuing her dream of becoming an infantry officer in the Marine Corps.

Growing up, Santangelo found she was always able to keep up with the guys and enjoyed playing hockey on all boys’ teams. But when she joined the Marines, Santangelo found the playing field changed; she was segregated into female-only training units and as a woman, was relegated to less strenuous physical training than her male counterparts. And that’s why, Santangelo told “On the Radar,” she didn’t have a fair shot at passing the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course.

Santangelo is one of 14 female Marines to have attempted -- and failed -- the grueling course since the ban against women in ground combat was lifted last year. Passing the course is a requirement for any Marine looking to become an infantry officer; and the reality that no woman to date has been able to pass is just one of many challenges the military is facing in fully implementing the ban’s repeal by the 2016 deadline.

Stirring up controversy with the op-ed, Santangelo made a case that she wasn’t set up to succeed in the first place and called for reforms within the Marines’ training program for women. She called specifically for holding women to higher physical fitness standards earlier on in their training and also for women to be given the opportunity to take the course a second time if they fail the first attempt -- an opportunity which men have always been allowed.

“My hope was that provide every Marine the opportunity to compete, and meet that standard and they can do the job,” Santangelo said.

And the Marine Corps’ commandant agreed, at least to Santangelo’s second point.

Now, female Marines are allowed a second opportunity to take the course. However, women’s training has not been made more rigorous, as Santangelo advocates it should be. Critics of Santangelo argue that there are biological differences between men and women that make it impossible for women to achieve the same level of upper body fitness; and therefore, to increase the standards for women’s upper body strength would be unfair and only discourage female recruits.

But Santangelo believes women are up for the challenge.

“My thought is with better preparation we can better prepare females to be able to meet that standard,” she said. “I think we can adapt our training. Women can meet those standards. Women can do pull-ups, women can have upper body strength. It just takes training and you know different training than the men have. There are absolutely differences there but they can be reconciled I think by adapting our training.”

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Do you think females should get different training than the males? Why / Why not?

 

[Jazzy]

If a woman wants to do the same job as a man, she should have to go through exactly the same training. No shortcuts, no exceptions. In combat, there will be no exceptions. If a woman can't carry a basic rucksack fully loaded with combat gear that can weigh upwards of 100 pounds, on a combat mission (that could last days or weeks on end), she has no business being out there with combat troops. There is a difference between physical strength between men and women. That's why you don't see women in the NFL. They'd be absolutely slaughtered.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

I agree with you 100%. I read a story a few years back of a women who managed to pass all the tests men do in the military. And got assigned with them in Afghanistan going to all the different tribes to make friends. She said by the end of her tour with all the walking and weight carried on her she had extreme back pains and had damaged her spine from carrying the same weight as men on a daily basis. Its tough to except for some women but they are just not as strong as men or can there bodies take the same abuse on a daily basis.

That said no one loves and respects women more then me so this is not a means to say they are inferior. I think quite the opposite.