The Marine Corps will assign a female infantry officer to lead a combat unit for the first time in its 250-year history after she graduates from a grueling training program Monday.
The lieutenant has completed and passed all of the graded requirements in the 13-week infantry officer training course, which is seen as one of the toughest in the military, The Washington Post reported. Three dozen women have attempted the course, but this woman, who has not yet been named, was the first to pass it.
The course requirements include field proficiency and carrying loads of up to 152 pounds for a distance, the Post reported. Ten percent of students typically fail on the first day and 25 percent don’t make it through the entire course.
If she graduates as expected, the lieutenant will lead a 40-man platoon in a branch of the military that has been traditionally resistant to women in combat roles.
The Marines was the only branch that recommended women not be allowed to have combat roles when the Pentagon opened all jobs to women in 2015, but then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter insisted all branches follow the same guidelines in order to be unified.
“We are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force,” Carter said in 2015, ABC News reported.
Two women became the first to graduate from Army Ranger training camp earlier this year but have not yet been assigned to a regiment.
Twitter users, even some lawmakers, were excited by the milestone accomplishment.
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