USMC joins the “give them all a trophy club”

[LibertyTurns]

Another proud day for our military, USMC in particular” as another barrier to service is destroyed. I’ve got no idea why physical capabilities had any bearing on the ability to serve as an infantry officer in the first place. Extra points for the Power Point Rangers is the way to go! What’s next extra points for community organizing & sexual diversity support as part of the combat readiness criteria? The USMC leadership has probably noticed the fantastic results the Navy has had when barriers to combat leadership positions were eliminated and greater focus was placed on social programs. Great job Marines in helping lead the way!

https://www.military.com/daily-news...-major-obstacle-female-infantry-officers.html

 

[forensicbuzz]

Another proud day for our military, USMC in particular” as another barrier to service is destroyed. I’ve got no idea why physical capabilities had any bearing on the ability to serve as an infantry officer in the first place. Extra points for the Power Point Rangers is the way to go! What’s next extra points for community organizing & sexual diversity support as part of the combat readiness criteria? The USMC leadership has probably noticed the fantastic results the Navy has had when barriers to combat leadership positions were eliminated and greater focus was placed on social programs. Great job Marines in helping lead the way!

https://www.military.com/daily-news...-major-obstacle-female-infantry-officers.html

Your thread title mischaracterizes the whole discussion. The USMC is reversing a change that was made in 2012. Prior to 2012, the CET was not a wash-out requirement. So, returning to the original intent of the CET is not a watering-down of the requirement for USMC Infantry officers (of which my father is one), but a realization that the CET should not be used as a rejection criterion. Nowhere in the article did I read anything about changing the program or modifying the program in any way. The CET is still there to set the benchmark and an assessment tool for candidates.

 

[LibertyTurns]

I’m glad you feel it’s ok. For me I’d be very concerned if I went into battle & didn’t have the confidence the officer leading me could pull his/her weight. You don’t get a “do-over” during combat operations.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I’m glad you feel it’s ok. For me I’d be very concerned if I went into battle & didn’t have the confidence the officer leading me could pull his/her weight. You don’t get a “do-over” during combat operations.

so, you're saying that an 2nd lt. from 2011 is less qualified than an 2nd lt. from 2012? Yeah, not following that logic. What about all of those officers that passed through IOC prior to the CET being part of the program in the 1990's? I think if "passing" the CET was a true gauge of the successful infantry officer, then they wouldn't have changed the rule.

 

[LibertyTurns]

so, you're saying that an 2nd lt. from 2011 is less qualified than an 2nd lt. from 2012? Yeah, not following that logic. What about all of those officers that passed through IOC prior to the CET being part of the program in the 1990's? I think if "passing" the CET was a true gauge of the successful infantry officer, then they wouldn't have changed the rule.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why they changed the rule. Not every 2LT is less qualified, just the ones that can’t pass because they don’t have the physical skills/endurance and/or mental toughness to pass.

It’s disrespectful to stigmatize the female officers that can pass by adopting the “everyone gets a trophy” strategy. The military is not a laboratory for social equality science experiments. What the Corps has in fact done has in effect communicated to the force that women are substandard officers and cannot earn their designations. Every female Infantry Officer will now face greater challenges trying to integrate in the force. The USMC leadership has set back gender equality in the Corps by their shortsighted action. There’s nothing wrong with allowing women to earn their stripes. There’s everything wrong about giving them something they did not earn.

It’s high time that Americans start having real conversations about racial & gender equality. Nobody benefits from politically motivated do-gooders deligitimizing the real accomplishments of minorities and females because we’re fixated on managing outcomes instead of providing equal opportunities. There’s plenty of high caliber individuals out there and all we need is a level playing field. This is social justice run amok & a bad deal all around.

 

[wishbone]

Incorrect. Right or wrong, it has very much been a laboratory for social equality experiments.

BTW military life is Socialism.

 

[forensicbuzz]

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why they changed the rule. Not every 2LT is less qualified, just the ones that can’t pass because they don’t have the physical skills/endurance and/or mental toughness to pass.

It’s disrespectful to stigmatize the female officers that can pass by adopting the “everyone gets a trophy” strategy. The military is not a laboratory for social equality science experiments. What the Corps has in fact done has in effect communicated to the force that women are substandard officers and cannot earn their designations. Every female Infantry Officer will now face greater challenges trying to integrate in the force. The USMC leadership has set back gender equality in the Corps by their shortsighted action. There’s nothing wrong with allowing women to earn their stripes. There’s everything wrong about giving them something they did not earn.

It’s high time that Americans start having real conversations about racial & gender equality. Nobody benefits from politically motivated do-gooders deligitimizing the real accomplishments of minorities and females because we’re fixated on managing outcomes instead of providing equal opportunities. There’s plenty of high caliber individuals out there and all we need is a level playing field. This is social justice run amok & a bad deal all around.

You're certainly entitled to you opinion and interpretation of the data as it relates to this situation. I do disagree with you though. I don't find reverting back to the original intent of the CET to be adopting the "everyone gets a trophy" strategy. From the early 1990's until 2012 the CET was a benchmark evaluation used to gauge the readiness of the officers to handle the program. After 20 years of opening the IOC with the CET, it was changed to a pass/fail test in 2012. after 5 years evaluation, the USMC decided to go back to the way they always did it.

So, looking at the numbers, 80% of the time it was an evaluative tool, 20% of the time it was a pass/fail criterion. By the USMC deciding that the way they did it for 80% of the time is not adopting the "everyone gets a trophy" approach. Yeah, there are better trees to bark up than this one. I think it's disrespectful to immediately jump to the conclusion that the Brass within the USMC is modifying the program to assist women. I look at it like the "drownproofing" class Tech used to require, and the reason it is no longer required. It isn't a necessary "pass" to show competency for the job.

By the way, I hate participation trophies, so for that, we're on the same page.

 

[LibertyTurns]

FB I understand what you’re saying but the rationale behind the change wasn’t qualifications but a capitulation in addressing a mandate from the Secdef (Lyin’ Leon Panetta) back in 2013 that the services remove barriers to females serving in combat roles.

The fact of the matter is females could not pass at acceptable rates so the standard was removed. It was done quietly and without any rationale behind the move. Bad leadership.

Now if the Corps said “we removed the requirement because the test basis was invalid” and we’ve now replaced it with these other more applicable requirements it would have been well received.

I’m all for having a standard run time, strength and endurance standard, etc. Get rid of the genders, eliminate the age brackets, etc. If a 50yo guy wants to stay in the Infantry, put down the donuts and exercise. Same for the women. I ran alongside Gen Shelton and he was probably 55. Outran most of us, strong as an ox, etc. When the bullets are flying having a beer belly Colonel along with your unit is not an advantage unless he’s sporting a Mk19.