A 19-year-old just became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps with sign a contract to train for the infantry at boot camp.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, is expected to ship to boot camp recruit training between October and December, said Master Sgt. Bryce Piper, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
"A female applicant has contracted into the Marine Corps' delayed entry program and has selected to enlist for the infantry military occupational specialty," Piper said. Military.com first reported on the woman's infantry contract Wednesday that she had contracted to train for infantry.
Like all poolees training for the infantry, the woman had to pass the enhanced initial strength before signing her contract, said Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. The test consists of three pullups, a 1.5-mile run within 13 minutes and 30 seconds, 44 crunches within two minutes and 45 ammo-can lifts within two minutes, which she will have to take again when she arrives at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.
After four weeks of recruit training, the woman will be assigned a specific infantry MOSmilitary occupational specialty, such as infantry rifleman, light armored vehicle crewman or machine gunner, Kulczewski said.
But before she can go onto the the Marine Corps Combat Training, School of Infantry after boot camp, the woman will have to pass another test about eight weeks into recruit training or she will be reclassified, he added Kulczewski said.
Marine poolees hoping to join the infantry have to complete at least three pullups before shipping off to boot camp.
Photo Credit: Sgt. Dylan Bowyer/Marine Corps
For that test, known as For the MOS classification standard, she will have to complete six pullups; a three3-mile run within 24 minutes and 51 seconds; 60 ammo-can lifts in two minutes; movement to contact within three minutes and 26 seconds; and maneuver under fire within three minutes and 12 seconds.
So far, seven female recruits have attempted the MOS classification standard for other ground combat jobs, such as artillery, low-altitude air-defense gunner and combat engineer, Kulczewski said. Six of those woman failed.
In October, the Marine Corps unveiled gender-neutral the MOS-specific physical standards for 29 jobs that both male and female Marines will have to pass before they can graduate from their MOS schoolhouses. Of the 23 women who attempted those new requirements gender-neutral standards, 20 have passed as of May 17, according to data provided to Marine Corps Times.
The three female Marines who had to be reclassified were unable to pass a test in which they had to lift HESCO barriers to become combat engineers, the data show.
