I began to shiver as I got cold
the Marines’ Infantry Officer Course
canada goose deals I awoke to Eminem blasting hours before dawn at Quantico Marine Base. A fog of breath and sweat permeated the cold January air as I joined 104 other nervous lieutenants hauling gear to https://www.winterdownparkas.com the classroom where we would receive our first instructions. With body armor, Kevlar, a rifle and a huge pack on my 5’3» frame, I must have looked like a child next to the buff guys assembling for Day 1 of the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course. canada goose deals
buy canada goose jacket cheap I was one of four women in the group, bringing the number to canada goose outlet woodbury 14 female officers who had attempted the course since it was opened to women in the fall of 2012. All the women so far had failed all but one of them on the first day. buy canada goose jacket cheap
I wasn’t thinking about that, though. I was excited to have a shot at the Marines’ premier training course.
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Canada Goose Jackets There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the arduous 13 week course used to screen and train potential infantry officers. Past participants are asked not to talk about it, in order to preserve the uncertainty for future classes. So we lieutenants had little idea of what we were getting into. But we knew that the first day is always the Combat Endurance Test, canada goose outlet online and that it pushes people to the limits of their physical and mental capabilities. Canada Goose Jackets
canada goose Several hours into the test, I jogged past a lieutenant who was overcome with cramps and vomiting on the side of the road. The temperature hovered just above freezing. A blister bled on my foot and sweat poured down my face, yet I felt relatively good. I had completed all the tasks so far within the time allotted, and I was determined to make it to the end without showing any weakness. A packet of MRE cheese spread gave me new life. I shook frost from my uniform, threw my pack on my back, slung my rifle and jogged on through the woods. canada goose
Canada Goose online But there came a point when I could not persuade my body to perform. It wasn’t a matter of will but of pure physical strength. My mind wanted more, but my muscles quivered in failure after multiple attempts. I began to shiver as I got cold. I was told I could not continue. Canada Goose online
That night I forced every step to be normal as I dragged myself weighed down by gear, disappointment and exhaustion back to the barracks. It was no consolation that 28 other lieutenants, including the other three women, failed along with me or that the Infantry Officer Course commonly drops 20 to 25 percent of each class. As I sat in my room, famished and waiting for pizza that canada goose outlet website legit seemed like it would never arrive, I reflected: Why did I fail?
canada goose coats The question matters because Marine leaders have been watching female participants canada goose outlet miami like me to help them decide how to integrate canada goose outlet store uk women into units and positions whose primary mission is canada goose outlet location to engage in direct ground combat. The canada goose outlet florida Marines have until Jan. 1, 2016, to request any exemptions buy canada goose uk from the Pentagon directive to open all combat roles to women. «If members of our military can meet the qualifications for a job and let me be clear, I’m not talking about reducing the qualifications for the job.. then they should have the right to serve,» canada goose stockists uk then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said when he rescinded the direct combat exclusion rule last year. canada goose coats
Marine Sgt. Maj. Micheal P. Barrett, the senior enlisted adviser to the commandant, affirmed: «Our discount genuine viagara. plan is deliberate, measured and responsible. We will not lower our standards.»Fact or fiction? A collection from Outlook’s popular Five Myths series.
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My failed attempt at Quantico, and the fact that no woman has yet made it through the Infantry Officer Course, shouldn’t be interpreted as evidence that women can’t handle combat environments. To date, 13 female Marines have passed the two month canada goose parka outlet uk enlisted infantry training course at Camp Geiger in North Carolina. While that course is significantly less demanding than the one at Quantico, it is still grueling participants must lug 85 pound packs on 12 mile treks through the woods and it establishes the standard for enlisted warfighters.
canada goose black friday sale Even more telling, on the front lines, where roles have already blurred, women have performed exceptionally well in traditionally male situations. Consider Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester. A Kentucky National Guard soldier, Hester was leading a team on a mission outside Baghdad in March 2005 when her convoy was attacked by insurgents. She orchestrated a counterattack with grenades and M203 rounds. The unit killed 27 insurgents, including three taken out by Hester with a rifle, and not a single soldier was lost. Hester became the first woman to receive a Silver Star since World War II. canada goose black friday sale
canada goose coats on sale So what’s held women back in the Marines Corps Infantry Officer Course? I canada goose outlet ottawa absolutely agree that we shouldn’t reduce qualifications. For Marine infantry officers, mistakes mean risking the lives of the troops you canada goose outlet ontario are charged to protect. But I believe that I could pass, and that other women could pass, if the standards for men and women were canada goose outlet usa equal from the beginning of their time with the Marines, if endurance and strength training started earlier than the current practice for people interested in going into the canada goose outlet phone number infantry, and if women were allowed a second try, as men are. canada goose coats on sale
Female lieutenants aren’t as prepared as male lieutenants for the Infantry Officer Course’s tests of strength and endurance because they’ve been encouraged to train to lesser standards. Officer Candidates School, where all Marine officers start out, is segregated by sex. I was in an all female platoon. We worked with the men on a few occasions but never competed with them. That was odd for me. As someone who grew up playing hockey on boys’ teams, I was used to facing off with the guys.
Canada Goose Outlet The Basic School, where I reported after graduating from Bowdoin College in 2012, has long been co canada goose outlet in canada ed. But physical double standards persist. In the Physical Fitness Test, for example, a male perfect score is achieved by an 18 minute canada goose outlet three mile run, 20 pull ups and 100 sit ups in two minutes. A female canada goose outlet in toronto perfect score is a 21 minute three mile run, a 70 second flexed arm hang and 100 sit ups in two minutes. There was a move to shift from arm hangs to pull ups for women last year. Yet 55 percent of female recruits were unable to meet the minimum of three, and the plan was put on hold. Canada Goose Outlet
I understand not wanting to discourage new recruits. But dual standards highlight and foster differences in a way that canada goose outlet england undercuts the goal of integrated military units. Women aren’t encouraged to establish the same mental toughness as men rather, they’re told that they can’t compete. Men, meanwhile, are encouraged to perceive women as weak. I noticed that women were rarely chosen by their peers for some of the harder tasks in basic training.
canada goose store Yes, men have biological advantages in tests of upper body canada goose outlet montreal strength. But women can do pull ups if given enough time to build that strength. (I did 16 in my last physical fitness test, and I have no illusions that I’m the most qualified female Marine.) Recognizing biologically based advantages and disadvantages and developing training programs that work to balance them are key. canada goose store
buy canada goose jacket It would be especially helpful if the Marines allowed people to decide on an infantry career canada goose outlet in uk earlier and offered some infantry oriented training earlier, too. Basic canada goose shop uk training canada goose outlet seattle doesn’t include enough physical gruntwork under a combat load. More exercises such as running, jumping and climbing while wearing a flak jacket, Kevlar and a pack would help build strength and endurance. They would also help prevent injuries by increasing bone density. My class had only a month between the end of the Basic School canada goose outlet sale and the start of the Infantry Officer Course. I wish there’d been more time to train to the endurance test’s demands. buy canada goose jacket
I also would have liked to have had the opportunity to try the course again. The Marine leadership has said it doesn’t want female lieutenants taking the course multiple times, at least until combat positions are available to women, because it doesn’t want to delay the rest of their training. Yet many of the men who failed alongside me in January canada goose outlet in new york are back at Quantico, training to retake the course in April.
canadian goose jacket They’re more likely to pass the second time around. The course is designed to create young canada goose parka outlet officers who thrive in an uncertain environment. Going into the endurance test, you don’t know how far you’ll have to go, what the obstacles will be or what time constraints will be imposed. The uncertainty makes the test overall much more difficult than any of its individual parts. Some of the canada goose outlet online store details change for each new class. But the male lieutenants who have taken it before have an advantage in that they know generally what to expect canadian goose jacket.
