Of the two enlisted female Marines who recently entered training to become Raiders, one remains in the first phase of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command training.
A female staff sergeant was unable to meet the minimum passing time on a ruck movement but a corporal is attempting to complete the first three weeks of MARSOC training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, said command spokesman Capt. Nick Mannweiler.
During Phase 1 of the assessment and selection process, candidates run up to 12 miles while carrying their ruck sacks and must also pass land navigation, swimming and mental aptitude tests.
Marine Raider hopefuls complete MARSOC's assessment and selection process. The first female Marine is slated to attend the training in August.
Enlisted Marines who do not make it through Phase 1 can try again up to three times depending on how much time they have left on their contract, the timing of their next promotion and whether the Office of Manpower and Enlisted Affairs has an available boat space in their military occupational specialty.
Candidates who pass Phase 1 must complete another three weeks as part of the assessment and selection process before they can attend the seven-month Individual Training Course, in which candidates learn basic skills including survival, evasion, resistance and escape; small unit tactics, close quarters battle and irregular warfare.
Women have been able to attempt MARSOC training since March, when Defense Secretary Ash Carter approved the Marine Corps' plan to allow women into all jobs that had been restricted to men only.
MARSOC began planning for having women train to become Raiders long before then. Maj. Gen. Joseph Osterman, then-MARSOC commander, said in February 2015 that he had ordered a review "to make sure that we've got a good, objective set of gender-neutral standards" within the command and its training pipeline.
In January, a MARSOC spokesman said at least three female Marines had expressed interest in training to be Raiders.
"MARSOC remains committed to sustaining and improving our combat effectiveness through the systematic application of our standards," Capt. Barry Morris said. "With clearly articulated and codified standards, MARSOC will enhance its ability to screen and select the best and most fully qualified Marines to become critical skills operators and special operations officers, increasing the overall combat readiness of our force."
News that one woman did not make it through MARSOC training comes roughly a month after the 30th female officer to attempt the 84-day Infantry Officer Course was dropped from the training after 12 days. The woman, whom Training and Education Command declined to identify, was unable to complete two hikes on July 18. No other women are scheduled to attempt the course.
As of May, the Marine Corps had approved requests by two enlisted Marines to move into the infantry: one as a rifleman and the other as a machine gunner.
