![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WomenMarines_0312.jpg.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYet questions persist inside and outside the Marine Corps about whether the service is doing enough to ameliorate barriers to the combat arms and making women feel more welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marine Corps has made gestures and policy decisions that appear unwelcoming to women. And that was reinforced by last year\u2019s \u201cMarines United\u201d scandal, when a large online community of male Marines was sharing nude photographs of women, including female Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marines were the only branch to ask for a waiver when the Pentagon ended the policy that excluded women from combat jobs. In 2015, the Pentagon\u2019s civilian leaders rejected the Corps request that some jobs remain restricted to men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sent a signal to women that they were not welcome in the Corps, said Lory Manning, a director at the Service Women\u2019s Action Network and retired Navy captain. It \u201cgives women second thoughts, you don\u2019t want to go where you\u2019re not welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STANDARDS<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few women are even trying to enter the Marine Corps combat arms job field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only 51 female recruits entering boot camp during the eight-month period between October 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017, entered with a combat arms job field. Of those, 13 passed the MOS Classification Standard test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the initial cadre of women arrived at boot camp, nearly three out of four women were failing new Military Occupation Specialty Classification Standard physical fitness requirements for combat job fields forcing them to be reclassed into other fields, Marine Corps officials said in August 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet women who make it through boot camp and pass that initial test are performing well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After boot camp, Marines take another series of gender-neutral job specific physical fitness tests called the MOS-specific physical standards, or MSPS. These are gender-neutral standards specific to job fields and are taken at the MOS school house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly 90 percent of women have passed the MSPS standards, Marine Corps officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, more than half the women serving in ground combat billets today are serving in fields with less physical demanding requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the enlisted side, there are currently six female rifleman (0311), one machine gunner (0331), and three mortarman (0341). Though women have attempted the screening to become a Marine special operator, none have yet passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of women have fallen into artillery, combat engineers, and low altitude air defense gunners, where the physical requirements are less stringent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though, the Corps has made strides in boosting fitness results of female Marines. The Marines employed certified fitness instructors as part of the Force Fitness Instructor program to help boost knowledge of the science behind physical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And efforts by Marine Corps Maj. Misty Posey to help institute a training routine to prepare women to do pull ups in lieu of the traditional flexed arm hang are also bearing fruit as female Marines have seen notable success in the pull-up portion of the PFT, according to the annual report by Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, by comparison the Army has had fewer problems bringing women into ground combat jobs. Nearly 500 women are serving in various combat billets throughout the Army, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, 10 women have graduated from the Army\u2019s grueling Ranger course and one is serving as an officer with a Ranger regiment. Nearly 74 women have graduated from Infantry or Armor Basic Officer Leader\u2019s Course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One reason for the Army\u2019s success: prior to the opening of combat fields, the Army started pushing women noncommissioned officers and leaders to previously excluded job fields to boost the ranks of female cadre members before new female soldiers entered the infantry schoolhouses. The initiative was known as Leaders First.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Corps implemented a similar strategy after the Army that saw over 200 female Marine leaders sent to formerly restricted units. An effort the Corps says has been successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NEEDED: MORE WOMEN<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller said in late January he wanted to grow the number women in the entire Marine Corps to 10 percent, up from today\u2019s 8 percent female force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That would likely boost the number of women in the combat arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s a lofty goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are only 3,500 slots for women in recruit training, and that limits the Corps\u2019 ability to grow the number of women, Lorri Manning explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That limit on the number of beds for women at recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, would be mitigated if the Corps fully integrated men and women into the same recruit training programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manning believes that standards can be used to create a perception that women in the Corps are not being put through the same gauntlet as their male counterparts, which ultimately leads to disrespect of female Marines and a treatment of them as second-class Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manning says the Corps also sends signals that training of male Marines is a higher priority over women that ultimately inhibits a drive to enter physically demanding combat job fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marines Corps\u2019 culture also has more intangible barriers to female integration, including a tightly-knit social fabric that values comradery and brotherhood amongst male Marines at the expense and sidelining of women, said Nora Bensahel, an expert on defense at American University. Bensahel pointed to the \u201cMarines United\u201d scandal that rocked the Corps last year after revelations about a secretive Facebook highlighted the deep issues within the Corps. It highlighted a Corps as a \u201cculture that devalues women in the ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe entire culture of the Marine Corps is a hyper-masculine culture,\u201d said Bensahel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marine United Facebook page distributed thousands of sexual and explicit images of female Marines and some civilians, many without the consent of the victims. Sexually harassing and even violent messages accompanied many of the posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since then, the Corps has updated policies to help police social media misconduct and to aid the Corps in its effort to prosecute those committing offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those efforts are starting to bear fruit, though maybe not as fast as some like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A year after Marines United, 119 culprits have been identified, 22 non DoD civilians and 97 Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And prosecutors have taken some of these culprits to town. To date there have been 80 dispositions, seven total courts martial, 14 NJP [ non- judicial punishment], 6 administrative separations, and 28 adverse administrative actions, according to the Judge Advocate Division, HQMC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GROWING THE RANKS OF WOMEN<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n To achieve the commandant\u2019s goal of a Marine Corps with 10 percent women by the end of next year, Marine Corps Recruiting Command is ramping up a plan to entice more qualified female Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are a myriad of problems attaining those numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore than 90 percent of America\u2019s youth are disinterested in military service and less than 8 percent of females are interested in military service,\u201d said Jim Edwards, a spokesman with Marine Recruiting Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To hit the 10 percent mark, the Corps needs to ship 3,400 women to recruit training annually. \u201cDuring FY17, Marine recruiters shipped 3,355 women to entry-level training, which was 8.9% of all new recruits,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Corps argues that fallout from Marines United has not impacted any recruitment efforts, and data provided by the recruiting command backs that claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the enlisted side of the house, the Corps managed to recruit 3,355 women in FY17, slightly up from 3,201 from the previous year. The Corps has had steady but tepid growth in the number of female enlisted Marines each year since FY 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The swings in the officer pool have been much smaller. FY17 saw 166 females officer recruits, slightly up from 149 in FY 2013. On average, female officer recruits are hitting just over 9 percent out of all recruits on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Marines are still short of their mark. That\u2019s why Recruiting Command has embarked on an aggressive marketing blitz targeting women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have increased the amount of female-inclusive and female-specific marketing and advertising initiatives to generate awareness about what it means to be a Marine and to highlight opportunities for women in the Marine Corps,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of those initiatives include reflecting on the inclusiveness of Marine occupational specialties, and portraying female Marines more accurately. And updating websites to remove gender-qualifying language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2014 the Corps began sending direct mail to female high school juniors and seniors, something they used to only do for males. Now more than 30 percent of that mail targets female high school students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in 2017, the Corps released its \u201cBattle Up\u201d commercial, inspired by the \u201cBattles Won\u201d campaign. It was the first Marine Corps commercial with a female lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese commercials feature women in a more authentic and representative manner alongside their male counterparts and clearly communicates who we are as Marines, what we do in support of our Nation\u2019s interests, and why it should be important and aspirational to our country\u2019s citizens.\u201d Edwards said in an emailed response to Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Corps is also targeting athletic women in sports programs in high school and college to best recruit women that can meet the rigorous physical requirements across all job fields. That includes evolving partnerships with USA Rugby and the National Wrestling Coaches Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNotably, about 10 percent of all youth wrestlers are female and that number continues to increase,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are resilient individuals who know how to fight and win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that the men and women who earn the title \u201cMarine\u201d will be ready, and will provide America with an elite crisis-response force that is ready to fight and win,\u201d Block said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two years after combat billets were opened, women still aren’t in them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":49648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news","your-military"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3398],"class_list":["post-22692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BP657VZRZBFKVLJBZJJ5SEWMKI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2018\/03\/05\/where-are-the-female-marines\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MAR-cover-2-0312.jpg.jpg\")