Posted on May 29, 2014
Would it be wrong for MARSOC to put a restriction on a female saying she cannot get pregnant for X amount of time while in MARSOC?
37.5K
286
132
9
9
0
The Marine Corps is going to start creating studies of females in many different jobs that were closed out to them previously.
They have started with females going through the School of infantry and have now incorporated them into even different weapons MOSs.
There is also a study standing up in January of 2016 where females and males will be take part in a special task force to study females in actual infantry roles.
Now to the question: There has also been talk of females joining MARSOC (Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command)assessment and selection process to become operators. The amount of training and time that it takes to make an operator and the rapid deployment of these forces would make it almost impossible for a team member to be out for 9 months, plus an additional 6 months for maternity leave. Would it be wrong for MARSOC to put a restriction on a female who wishes to join MARSOC by saying that if you choose to join you cannot get pregnant for X amount of time while in MARSOC?
They have started with females going through the School of infantry and have now incorporated them into even different weapons MOSs.
There is also a study standing up in January of 2016 where females and males will be take part in a special task force to study females in actual infantry roles.
Now to the question: There has also been talk of females joining MARSOC (Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command)assessment and selection process to become operators. The amount of training and time that it takes to make an operator and the rapid deployment of these forces would make it almost impossible for a team member to be out for 9 months, plus an additional 6 months for maternity leave. Would it be wrong for MARSOC to put a restriction on a female who wishes to join MARSOC by saying that if you choose to join you cannot get pregnant for X amount of time while in MARSOC?
Combat
Women in the Military
Pregnancy
Special Operations
MARSOC
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 49
Suspended Profile
Gentlemen,
Are you going to tell men they can't tear a tendon, break a leg, or suffer a groin, testicular, urethral, prostate, corpora cavernosa, or corpus spongiosum injury?
Pregnancy is not necessarily an elective outcome. Are you going to ask a woman to terminate an unintended pregnancy?
Warmest Regards, Sandy
Are you going to tell men they can't tear a tendon, break a leg, or suffer a groin, testicular, urethral, prostate, corpora cavernosa, or corpus spongiosum injury?
Pregnancy is not necessarily an elective outcome. Are you going to ask a woman to terminate an unintended pregnancy?
Warmest Regards, Sandy
15
15
0
I would think that if a female was going to join MARSOC or any other Special Operations unit, she would go in knowing what the OPTEMPO is like, what demands are placed on the operators and what she might have to give up. And I would think if she decided to have a child, she would come to that decision after looking at everything within her life including her role as an operator so I don't think this would need to be control by the military. The female operator will be smart enough to understand what she is getting herself into.
(15)
(0)
SPC Derrell Beck
If they want it bad enough I think they would wait it out to have a baby or already have had children. You have some females getting pregnant bc they just want to deploy. Those females are different from the ones who want some action. If they put their mind to it then it's possible. This is a good option for lesbians? Haha
(0)
(0)
11
11
0
To me it seems reasonable to ask females not to get pregnant and to remove them from the unit if they do. I base this on the fact that the Army Rangers maintain a high-level of unit readiness and major injuries, such as the ones described by LT Annala, will see a soldier removed from regiment and sent to another unit.
(11)
(0)
11
11
0
Tactfully explaining to a female prior the do's and dont's should not be considered a bad idea. Tour family comes first so if they know it could be a slight chance that they'd want to have a child then they should keep that in mind. When you say your going to place the mission first then you should know what your getting yourself into and having children should be an after thought for the time being.
(11)
(0)
10
10
0
No Sir, it would not be wrong. I have my own opinion on females being in an Infantry MOS but I also have to realistically believe that any female Soldier/Marine who is dedicated enough to be in SF or MARSOC isn't going to jeopardize her career , her fellow team mates or the mission by getting pregnant. I am confident that a Soldier or Marine of that caliber would decide on the right time and place for that to happen.
(10)
(0)
6
6
0
Many of the folks here may not go as far back as I do, but back when I enlisted the policy was simple, if the woman got pregnant she was discharged with a general. Then as the feminist movement continued the policy was cancelled.
So because of all the specialized training required for MARSOC, I see absolutely no problem requiring a woman to sign a legal document stating that for a given period of time say 3 years that she will NOT get pregnant, and if she does she will be discharged. People today should be smart enough to ensure they don't get pregnant.
So because of all the specialized training required for MARSOC, I see absolutely no problem requiring a woman to sign a legal document stating that for a given period of time say 3 years that she will NOT get pregnant, and if she does she will be discharged. People today should be smart enough to ensure they don't get pregnant.
(6)
(0)
Sgt Jim Weber
Or she could always have an abortion. The femanists are always preaching to us about that right, and how great it is. The woman could go to an planned abortion clinic, get business taking care of and move on with the training or deployment or whatever. I don't think in this day and age they should sign an agreement that they won't get pregnant but it should be acknowlegded that unplanned pregnancies will get you booted from spec. ops. for 2-3 years.
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
My compliments LT on an excellent question! Its easy to come up with arguments on both sides. If you make a career choice sometimes sacrifices need to be made. I'd be hard pressed to believe that men who choose a SPECOPS career don't have to wrestle with decisions about marriage and family. If women choose that career path they would be faced with the same decisions. Generally, it takes 2 to decide on having a baby, so if the woman has selected that career path, hopefully its a joint decision on if and when to have children. Hopefully it would be understood that the career comes first so that something of this nature doesn't have to be mandated.
(6)
(0)
5
5
0
I would wonder if mandatory birth control would be considered as a standard precaution? Something along the lines of Depo-Provera, which would then need to be maintained throughout deployment or situation. I would think that this would be considered along the same lines as any other preventative pre-deployment medical procedure/inoculation, assuming of course that requirement is stipulated up front, well spelled out and agreed to.
(5)
(0)
Cpl (Join to see)
LCDR Jaron Matlow I would hope that if I were deploying with a sensitive unit which had an increased operational tempo and I had a critical skills position within that unit; that someone in charge would notify me of potential issues which may arise as a result of my not being careful. For example a diabetic losing control of their sugar in the middle of deployment. Sentiment aside it is about the mission not about me.
(0)
(0)
Suspended Profile
Cpl (Join to see) 100%. BTW, I believe that diabetics are medically discharged - every one I've met was.
Cpl Christopher Bishop
Have they even started being able to do the 3 pull-ups...that they could even enter any SpecOps units? USMC Infantry training opportunities had decided No thus far, or so I thought I heard.
(0)
(0)
3
3
0
Sgt S.P. Woodke
as long as commitments have been made to Uncle Sam the commitments need to fulfilled ~ honor the obligation that we ALL PROMISED to uphold when we ALL raised our right hand. IF the obligation cannot be fulfilled they have the opportunity to REIMBURSE us for breaking the contract...
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
Now I am not sure on how the pipeline for MARSOC is. If I was to use the SF training model of SFAS/Q-Course/Team time/Staff time. IF I was in charge of writing the manual. If a female Soldier in the pipeline became pregnant I would hold an inquiry board. Depending on how long thru the pipeline if I would do a dissmissal from the course. With a 90% chance of the dismissal happening. Same thing if this Soldier was in their inital team time (say first 3 years after graduating from Q-course) You finish Q-course then come up pregnant in the first 3 months.....good bye go back to the the regular army, re-apply for SF in 24 months. You come back from deployment, been on a team for 2-3 years....take some time off go work on staff.
I feel if the army spends the money on you to train you for 1-2 years you owe it to the army to contribute back, for a similar amount of time. Its a break in the trust that the army would place to spend all that money on you to train you etc.
I feel if the army spends the money on you to train you for 1-2 years you owe it to the army to contribute back, for a similar amount of time. Its a break in the trust that the army would place to spend all that money on you to train you etc.
(3)
(0)
LTC Robert McKenna
I think I would spin it slightly differently. If your pregnant, it doesn't count as part of the ADSO that you owe the service for the training. If you become pregnant during training, then our exit and re-enter at the appropriate point (i.e. Q course is three phases, mem have gotten injured in phase II or III, but when they re-enter they don't have to go to phase I again). Also, there are some trianing programs in the pipeline where pregnancy is a non issue, such and language and regional training, so things do happen out of sequence for individuals who get hurt.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
-
Ask questionGet expert advice and
tips for your questions. -
Post updatePost pictures, personal updates, plans, or anything you like!
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google 
It is simply anecdotal evidence from two deployment cycles on that ship...