First Female Infantry Marines to Graduate Boot Camp in January | Military.com: Just over a year after Defense Secretary Ash Carter issued a mandate opening previously closed ground combat jobs to women, the Marine Corps expects to see its first female recruits with infantry contracts graduate boot camp, bringing them one step closer to billets in combat arms units.
To date, 31 female Marines have signed enlistment contracts for previously closed combat arms military occupational specialties, or jobs, Jim Edwards, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command, told Military.com.
Of these recruits, 21 have active-duty contracts for "03XX" ground infantry jobs, a field that includes rifleman, mortarman and machine gunner, among other jobs, Edwards said. Nine more have committed to four different artillery, vehicle and air support jobs, including field artillery cannoneer, armor Marine, assault amphibious vehicle Marine, and low-altitude air defense gunner, he said. And one woman enlisted on a reserve contract as a light armored vehicle Marine.
The new enlistees quietly began shipping to boot camp this fall. Edwards said 16 shipped to recruit training Oct. 1, and 15 remain in the delayed entry program and are expected to ship to recruit training after the start of the new year.
