The U.S. Military continues to show its support for equal rights with this recent development by the Marine Corps Boot Camp. By April, the Marine Corps has been ordered to create gender-neutral job titles to go along with the fact that all military combat roles have been opened to women. Memos for this change were first sent out on Jan. 1st to the Marine Commandant General, Robert Neller from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. According to USAToday, one of the memos read as follows:
“As we achieve full integration of the force … this is an opportunity to update the position titles and descriptions themselves to demonstrate through this language that women are included in these MOSs,” Mabus wrote. “Please review the position titles throughout the Marine Corps and ensure that they are gender-integrated as well, removing ‘man’ from the titles and provide a report to me as soon as is practicable and no later than April 1, 2016.”
This memo alludes to why, in these changing and revolutionary times, the Marine Corps should set aside the time to modernize the titles used in military occupational specialties (MOS). While most military branches have already made the switch to co-ed boot camp and officer training, the Marine Corps has remained segregated by gender. The Marine Corps Times explains this as so:
“Female recruits only attend Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, where they live and train separately from their male counterparts there. Marine officials have long touted the benefits to this model as it allows for intense mentoring between female drill instructors and the women in their charge. But critics say it can backfire with female recruits not being held to the same physical standards as their male counterparts.”
However, as gender integration is implemented, this issue can be dissolved while also giving women equal standing in job titles as men.
While this is definitely a big step for women in the military, it also opens the way for transgender and gender non-conforming people to feel more comfortable during their time in service. According to the Advocate, transgender people will be able to work openly in the military not long after the implementation of the gender neutral job titles:
“The April 1 deadline to implement these moves toward gender-neutrality is less than two months before the Pentagon has indicated it will begin lifting the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in the armed forces.”
Ever since the lifting of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011, the U.S. Military has been slowly moving toward becoming more women and LGBTQ friendly and it seems it will keep this positive momentum up in 2016.
