Posted on Jan 5, 2019
Marines to Integrate Female and Male Training Battalions for First Time
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I have my doubts about this but sure, let's roll the dice and see where they land, so long as we are willing to evaluate the results realistically and respond accordingly.
Marines to Integrate Female and Male Training Battalions for First Time
Posted from nytimes.com
Marines
Gender
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 6
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The term "integration" is used misleadingly in the article.
Bootcamp within the USMC starts on a weekly basis. Each week is a new "Company" composed of two "Series" and multiple Platoons.
This means that each Battalion has different a different Company in a different Phase of Boot Camp concurrently (there are 4 Battalions on the East Coast, 3 on the West Coast).
When I went through in 1994 (3rd Battalion), we had 80~ people in each of our 6 platoons. During the winter months, those numbers drop SIGNIFICANTLY.
4th Battalion (the Female Battalion) is also significantly smaller (Females have historically only made up 7-9% of the USMC). During the Winter months, this makes it difficult to justify a full Recruit Company. However there is enough to justify a full Platoon (about 50 people).
By creating one Platoon, and "attaching" it to another Company, this is a win/win. We can run more Female Platoons while simultaneously testing to see if "limited integration" is feasible.
Bootcamp within the USMC starts on a weekly basis. Each week is a new "Company" composed of two "Series" and multiple Platoons.
This means that each Battalion has different a different Company in a different Phase of Boot Camp concurrently (there are 4 Battalions on the East Coast, 3 on the West Coast).
When I went through in 1994 (3rd Battalion), we had 80~ people in each of our 6 platoons. During the winter months, those numbers drop SIGNIFICANTLY.
4th Battalion (the Female Battalion) is also significantly smaller (Females have historically only made up 7-9% of the USMC). During the Winter months, this makes it difficult to justify a full Recruit Company. However there is enough to justify a full Platoon (about 50 people).
By creating one Platoon, and "attaching" it to another Company, this is a win/win. We can run more Female Platoons while simultaneously testing to see if "limited integration" is feasible.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I will also note, at least at MCRD San Diego, each platoon had their own barracks & head. The only way to go to another barrack was via the ladder well landing. Their is usually a fire watch that patrols that area as well as the Quarter Deck and barracks itself. The women will be in a building (maybe) that houses the company but in their own barracks within the building.
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CWO4 (Join to see)
Integration at this level should not cause any significant concerns or issues, IMHO. Platoon integrity is generally maintained within the companies throughout the training cycles. I agree that it is a win/win and sets the conditions for other instituitional integration efforts.
DI, SDI, and Bn Ops Chief, Co E, 2d RTBn, MCRD PISC, 2008-2011.
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DI, SDI, and Bn Ops Chief, Co E, 2d RTBn, MCRD PISC, 2008-2011.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
SSgt (Join to see) - If I recall correctly, the back side of the heads connected via the showers & "laundry room" (which we never used) and the "back" ladderwell which was by the washracks. My memory may be flawed though (20+ years ago).
As you said, there is a firewatch, but that's foxes guarding the hen house. The more likely scenario in this specific case would be an empty squadbay adjoining that entrance rather than tempt fate.
As you said, there is a firewatch, but that's foxes guarding the hen house. The more likely scenario in this specific case would be an empty squadbay adjoining that entrance rather than tempt fate.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I thought there was a "back access". We never really saw or used it. It also connected to the other side of the H shaped building as well. I always thought of it as the DI's personal race track to appear out of nowhere. And 30+ years for me.
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When I went to MCRD San Diego for boot camp, I was in the early summer swing. 90+ men to a platoon, 4 platoons to a series, 2 series to a company. The Company 1 week before us only had 6 platoons of about 60 men each. Of course we lost some, gained some as boot camp ground on. We ended up graduating an average of 70 Marines per Platoon.
Rarely did we "integrate" with any other Platoon. Marine boot camp is scheduled such that 8 Platoons can be on the same training week but shift days around. For our trips to the Rifle Range (1 week) and field training (1 week) we saw the other Platoons but did not interact except for the "war day/night" scenario at the end of field week. We did graduate together, but again, did not intermingle.
I don't see a problem with what the Marine Corps is doing. It is more perception than actual integration. <bah!/>
Rarely did we "integrate" with any other Platoon. Marine boot camp is scheduled such that 8 Platoons can be on the same training week but shift days around. For our trips to the Rifle Range (1 week) and field training (1 week) we saw the other Platoons but did not interact except for the "war day/night" scenario at the end of field week. We did graduate together, but again, did not intermingle.
I don't see a problem with what the Marine Corps is doing. It is more perception than actual integration. <bah!/>
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"The Marine Corps, which has the lowest percentage of women among the services at just under 9 percent, decided to incorporate the 50 female recruits into the historically all-male battalion because the recruiting classes are typically much smaller in the winter months. The integration allowed Parris Island to not activate 4th Recruit Training Battalion staff for a single female platoon."
"The female recruits will still be led by female Drill Instructors, but will live in barracks co-inhabited by their male counterparts. " (on a different deck)
"The female recruits will still be led by female Drill Instructors, but will live in barracks co-inhabited by their male counterparts. " (on a different deck)
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