Posted on Nov 7, 2016
The Consequences Of Gender Segregation In Marine Boot Camp
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I wasn't aware there is segregation in male, female recruits in basic training . I actually know nothing about it since all of our recruits were male.
The segregation of men and women at this most foundational level of indoctrination reinforces negative stereotypes about the abilities of servicewomen over their entire careers.
The Marine Corps is asking tough questions of itself after the death of a Muslim recruit sparked an investigation that could lead to administrative or legal action against up to 20 enlisted and officer personnel. But any dialogue about how recruits are made into Marines must also include a frank discussion about the segregated training of men and women in boot camp. Boot camp is meant to be a place of extremes, but it is also a place where negative attitudes about gender are imprinted on new recruits. The segregation of men and women at this most foundational level of indoctrination reinforces negative stereotypes about the abilities of women, breeds distrust, creates a negative impact on mental health for military women in and beyond the service.
The segregation of men and women at this most foundational level of indoctrination reinforces negative stereotypes about the abilities of servicewomen over their entire careers.
The Marine Corps is asking tough questions of itself after the death of a Muslim recruit sparked an investigation that could lead to administrative or legal action against up to 20 enlisted and officer personnel. But any dialogue about how recruits are made into Marines must also include a frank discussion about the segregated training of men and women in boot camp. Boot camp is meant to be a place of extremes, but it is also a place where negative attitudes about gender are imprinted on new recruits. The segregation of men and women at this most foundational level of indoctrination reinforces negative stereotypes about the abilities of women, breeds distrust, creates a negative impact on mental health for military women in and beyond the service.
The Consequences Of Gender Segregation In Marine Boot Camp
Posted from taskandpurpose.com
Basic Combat Training (BCT)
Marines
Men
Women in the Military
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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Although the Authors (et al) have "some" valid points they neglect the primary reason for boot camp segregation.
MATH
Only 7% of the USMC is female. That's right 7%. 4th training BN is smaller and runs less cycles because there are less female recruits. It is not feasible to integrate males and females because of QUANTITY and RATIO. (1:14).
There are a few primary arguments for segregation beyond math.
1) Distraction. Anything that distracts from primary mission should be avoided
2) Physiology. "Classes" of people have wildly varying levels of ability. This creates an unbalancing issue in Training.
MATH
Only 7% of the USMC is female. That's right 7%. 4th training BN is smaller and runs less cycles because there are less female recruits. It is not feasible to integrate males and females because of QUANTITY and RATIO. (1:14).
There are a few primary arguments for segregation beyond math.
1) Distraction. Anything that distracts from primary mission should be avoided
2) Physiology. "Classes" of people have wildly varying levels of ability. This creates an unbalancing issue in Training.
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SGT (Join to see)
Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS - Don't kid yourself. You're opinion is respected by a lot of members of RP. Not me, just others. LOL
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PO1 (Join to see)
Just felt right lmao I'm kidding I worked at Edson Range "Field Training Battalion" 2006-09 (West Coast) Marine Corps Bootcamp is literally broken down to a science. They always have a reason for what they do to maximize training time and fit all the little games that big brother from Quantico wants completed. It's really quite impressive. For as much as I like to pick on my Marine brothers.
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I had about a 150 female Soldiers and about 1100 males go through my company over the course of two years in Army 21B/C OSUT. There were good and bad training interactions between the mixed trainees, to include my male and female drill sergeants. Is the mixed training interaction worth it? To some; mostly the more competitive females. Were there career ending issues and endless boy/girl drama? Absolutely. Daily. Many times I wished for the Marine Corp template. The authors of the article on segregation need to spend a year as a Drill Sergeant or 1SG "assigned and responsible" for a mixed training unit. Basic Combat Training isn't about personal feelings. We could talk about male feelings and issues as easily as they talked about female issues. Integrate at the Advanced Individual Training.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
1SG Al Brown - Tend to concur. I think it would fall under "insignificant" however when you are counting TIME as opposed to MONEY, I think the cost increases dramatically. Different cost buckets.
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SGT (Join to see)
Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS - I guess when I wrote that, I was thinking more of classes and hands on experience. In regard to the physical element, there's no way they could be equals in training. But, having female drill Sargents with them, they can be trained physically as hard as a female can be trained. They won't be trained as hard as the males, but they will be as tough as the female Drill Sargent can make it. I hope you get my drift there. LOL
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
SGT (Join to see) - Absolutely, and that is something Kate Germano was absolutely correct on (prior to her relief). She argued that "the expectations were lower" at a systemic level (which is wrong). She highlighted this using rifle scores & training.
My disagreement with her articles (et al) over the last year has been the implication that everything within the Recruit Training Process has "sexist undertones." Some things are a second or third order effect as opposed to a root cause. Segregation has demonstratable advantages (removal of distraction & physiology) whereas Desegregation has demonstratable disadvantages. My argument leans towards "pragmatic" and boils down to "How will this make us a better fighting force?"
I'm not opposed to desegregation, but I would like to see a compelling reason that has the potential to be proven.
My disagreement with her articles (et al) over the last year has been the implication that everything within the Recruit Training Process has "sexist undertones." Some things are a second or third order effect as opposed to a root cause. Segregation has demonstratable advantages (removal of distraction & physiology) whereas Desegregation has demonstratable disadvantages. My argument leans towards "pragmatic" and boils down to "How will this make us a better fighting force?"
I'm not opposed to desegregation, but I would like to see a compelling reason that has the potential to be proven.
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SGT (Join to see)
Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS - You nailed it. How this will make us a better fighting force should be the number one task, no matter what it takes. Let the discrimination, segregation, and integration enuendos step aside and work on the real outcome that should be the only thing considered. This should have been worked out before the female, male training began.
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Personally, I don't see how it reinforces negative stereotypes. The majority of men and women who enlist are at their sexual prime. We are training to become Marines. We can't afford the distraction of wanting to hook up with a member of the opposite sex. Not to mention that after boot camp, Marines report in for combat training which isn't segregated. So not sure why this is an issue...
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