First 3 female Marines graduate from infantry course

CAMP GEIGER, N.C. – Three Marines have become the first women to graduate from the Corps’ tough-as-nails enlisted infantry training school in North Carolina, officials said Thursday.

The three completed the 59-day course and met the same test standards as the men, said Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Geraldine Carey.

The course includes a grueling 12-mile march with an 80-pound pack and a variety of combat fitness tests such as timed combat shuttle runs, timed ammunition container lifts and tests that simulate running under combat fire.

The step comes as the Marine Corps continues to evaluate where women might serve in combat. Earlier this year, the Pentagon lifted the ban on women serving in combat jobs, but each of the service branches is developing how this might be accomplished.

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps are looking at the standards required for serving in battlefront jobs such as infantry, armor and elite commando positions. They have until Jan. 1, 2016, to open as many jobs as possible to women, and to explain why if they decide to keep some closed.

The common requirements for men and women for each job would be based on specific tasks. Military officials have said the standards will not be lowered in order to bring women into any combat posts.

Carey identified the women as Pfc. Julia Carroll, 18, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, who is entering a school for signal intelligence training; Pfc. Cristina Fuentes Monternegro, 25, of Coral Springs, Fla., who will study to become an aviation mechanic; and Pfc. Katie Gorz, 19, of St. Paul, Minn., who is going to study logistics.

On its website, the Marine Corps said the Camp Geiger course is the follow-on training for Marines who graduate from basic training at Parris Island, S.C., and about 20,000 Marines train there every year. Marines who complete recruit training at the post near San Diego move on to the infantry school at Camp Pendleton in California.

Parris Island is the only site where female Marines go through basic training.

Carey said 15 women began the enlisted course with 254 men in September. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly how many male Marines completed the course to graduation on Thursday.