The first female U.S. infantry officer will lead a platoon after a woman graduated Monday from the Marine Corps’ infantry officer training.
The woman, who wishes to remain unnamed, graduated from the grueling 13-week officer training course in Quantico, Virginia, according to BBC News. The course began in July with 131 marines, and saw just 88 graduates on Monday, one of which was the female officer.
The Corps describes the course as educating would-be officers in "the leadership, infantry skills, and character required to serve as infantry platoon commanders," BBC News said.
As a testament to the arduous nature of the course, statistics show that roughly a quarter of all applicants fail the course requirements, with a staggering 10 percent of them missing the mark on the first day.
Following the Marine’s momentous achievement, Marine Corps commandant Gen. Robert Neller proudly Tweeted a picture of her, along with a press release link.
At the end of 2015, Reuters reported that former President Barack Obama had made a historic move to allow women to serve in all combat roles within the U.S Military.
The new officer will lead a 40-strong platoon, and will be sent to her first assignment at the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California.
Twitter users shared congratulations.
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