I was wondering if there are any females out there that could give me a little info on what it is like to be a female in the marines. Something along the lines of what are the differences that women face as a Marine? What are some of the difficulties of being a woman Marine? Are there women officers that have started families, kids, etc...? Are the women & men trained together, or are women separated out for anything? Any overview info would be great. I am currently applying for OCS for October, and am extremely excited about this opportunity. Thanks!
-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
Women Marines
- Thread starter PriceM15
- Start date
- Status
This may not be exactly what you are looking for since it is from the male perspective, but maybe I can answer the last two questions. At OCS, the females were in their own platoon, with female sergeant instructors, which is necessary because you will be living in an open squad bay.
When you get to TBS, training is the same. A TBS platoon (roughly 40 Marines) takes up a hallway, 2-4 per room. We had three females in our platoon, who shared the same room, and were then divided one per squad. The only difference in the training was that they shared the room, and a few differences in the minimum times for physical events.
During field evolutions, which often required spending a week in the field, they had to carry the same things as the males. As far as the sleeping arrangements, tents go out the window at TBS, you get a gortex bivvy sack, which is just big enough for your sleeping bag to fit inside of. We were allowed tents on one night, but only because we camped out on a sheet of ice in below zero type of weather. For the most part the attitude was that they were one of the guys. Maybe it was different from their perspective, but most of them did just fine.
Of the three women, one was married with two kids, the next got married while at TBS, and the third just had a boyfriend I think. I don’t know why there would be any difference between a married female Marine, or a married male Marine. The consensus would be the same that you will not have any family time while at OCS, or at TBS.
When you get to TBS, training is the same. A TBS platoon (roughly 40 Marines) takes up a hallway, 2-4 per room. We had three females in our platoon, who shared the same room, and were then divided one per squad. The only difference in the training was that they shared the room, and a few differences in the minimum times for physical events.
During field evolutions, which often required spending a week in the field, they had to carry the same things as the males. As far as the sleeping arrangements, tents go out the window at TBS, you get a gortex bivvy sack, which is just big enough for your sleeping bag to fit inside of. We were allowed tents on one night, but only because we camped out on a sheet of ice in below zero type of weather. For the most part the attitude was that they were one of the guys. Maybe it was different from their perspective, but most of them did just fine.
Of the three women, one was married with two kids, the next got married while at TBS, and the third just had a boyfriend I think. I don’t know why there would be any difference between a married female Marine, or a married male Marine. The consensus would be the same that you will not have any family time while at OCS, or at TBS.
- Status