![]() That was a little bit rough, but I made it through. I volunteered to be an instructor at Parris Island. After I got out of boot camp some woman in an airport asked me if I was in the Girl Scouts. Location and occupation: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina semiretired business owner and former business professorĪ lot of people didn't even know women existed in the Marines. Military status: Medically retired as staff noncommissioned officer ![]() (Béatrice de Géa | The Washington Post) Bambi Bullard Bambi Bullard 11, here are the stories of eight dedicated Marines. I don't know any other way to say that."Īs we prepare to mark Veterans Day on Nov. And the some that don't f- everything else up. "I'm proud of my service," said Schroeder. But many in the group also noted that most Marines don't engage in that behavior. Elena started a "Female Marines United" campaign to raise money for Headstrong, which provides mental health support to military members. There were mixed feelings within the group about changes such as more-demanding physical fitness standards for female Marines and opening all combat roles to women, but also excitement about advances such as the first female graduate of the infantry officer school and the first recruiting ad featuring a woman.Īll of the women were outraged by the Marines United scandal, though some weren't surprised. Many mentioned military benefits that have allowed them to further their educations. Several cited supportive commanding officers. Four are married - all to current or former Marines, which comes with its own set of complications.Įven women with negative experiences said the Marine Corps gave them a lot: It made them tougher and more disciplined it provided meaningful, rewarding work. Five have combined their careers with parenthood. "It would have been easier to be a Marine if I was just invisible," said Justine Elena, a captain in the reserve who left the service a few years ago. "As a young woman in that time, you were easy prey," recalled retired gunnery sergeant Carrie Ann Lynch, who enlisted in 1990. Others have stories of enduring insults, being propositioned, being stared at, feeling like they couldn't be themselves, having to prove themselves over and over. Stephanie Schroeder said she was discharged after reporting a rape and spent years fighting for the Veterans Affairs disability benefits she now receives. ![]() To varying degrees, being a woman in the Marine Corps has tested all of them. "It just always seemed like if you could do the Marine Corps you could do anything," said Capt. All spoke about becoming a Marine in terms of the challenge - of proving they had what it takes, and often, in the process, proving others wrong. ![]() There were areas of commonality: All but one said they were inspired to join the Marines in part because they had relatives who were in the Corps or another service some said they'd had this desire since they were tiny children. (The interviews have been edited and condensed.) We also spoke with them about their experiences in and out of the Corps, and about what they hope the photographs convey. As it was taking these steps, we reached out to current and retired female Marines to find women interested in posing for photographs that would let them define how they were portrayed, as individuals and as service members. Thus far, it has disciplined 44 Marines, strengthened its policies for addressing social media misconduct and established a task force to look at how it recruits, trains, assigns and mentors service members in an effort to eliminate gender bias. The Corps continues to grapple with the fallout. Disturbing revelations in March made it even tougher: Male members of the 30,000-strong Marines United Facebook group had been soliciting and posting explicit photos of current and former female Marines without their permission, often accompanied by violent and obscene comments. It's never been easy to be a woman in the Marine Corps, which is the most physically demanding branch of the military and the one with the smallest percentage of female service members: 7.6 percent.
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