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Three women dropped from Marines' infantry officer course will not reattempt
Oct. 28, 2014 - 05:35PM |
A female Marine takes the combat endurance test, the first event in the Infantry Officers Course, in 2012. (H. Darr Beiser / USA Today)
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
The three female Marine officers who made it through the grueling first exercise of Infantry Officer Course at the start of October were asked to leave after falling out of two hikes, Marine Corps officials said this week.
The second lieutenant and two captains were dropped from the 13-week course held aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, about two weeks after it began. The Marines got further in the course than any other women since IOC opened to female volunteers on an experimental basis in late 2012. Only one other female officer has gotten past the notoriously difficult combat endurance test that kicks off the course; she was forced to drop out about a week later due to stress fractures in her foot.
Capt. Maureen Krebs, a spokeswoman for Headquarters Marine Corps, said the two captains were both logistics officers, while the lieutenant was in training to become a combat engineer. Krebs said she could not release their names or ages due to privacy regulations governing the ongoing research.
The three officers were dropped from the course the week of Oct. 17, Krebs said, after failing to keep up on two long hikes while carrying an approach-march load of up to 120 pounds. The load represents a day’s meals, clothing, supplies and assault gear for a 20-mile march into combat.
According to the infantry training and readiness manual, an infantry officer is expected to maintain a pace of 24.8 miles in eight hours, or approximately three miles per hour, carrying the approach-march load (120 lbs).
Three women dropped from Marines' infantry officer course will not reattempt | Marine Corps Times | marinecorpstimes.com
Oct. 28, 2014 - 05:35PM |
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
The three female Marine officers who made it through the grueling first exercise of Infantry Officer Course at the start of October were asked to leave after falling out of two hikes, Marine Corps officials said this week.
The second lieutenant and two captains were dropped from the 13-week course held aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, about two weeks after it began. The Marines got further in the course than any other women since IOC opened to female volunteers on an experimental basis in late 2012. Only one other female officer has gotten past the notoriously difficult combat endurance test that kicks off the course; she was forced to drop out about a week later due to stress fractures in her foot.
Capt. Maureen Krebs, a spokeswoman for Headquarters Marine Corps, said the two captains were both logistics officers, while the lieutenant was in training to become a combat engineer. Krebs said she could not release their names or ages due to privacy regulations governing the ongoing research.
The three officers were dropped from the course the week of Oct. 17, Krebs said, after failing to keep up on two long hikes while carrying an approach-march load of up to 120 pounds. The load represents a day’s meals, clothing, supplies and assault gear for a 20-mile march into combat.
According to the infantry training and readiness manual, an infantry officer is expected to maintain a pace of 24.8 miles in eight hours, or approximately three miles per hour, carrying the approach-march load (120 lbs).
Three women dropped from Marines' infantry officer course will not reattempt | Marine Corps Times | marinecorpstimes.com