After months of deliberation, the Marine Corps has decided to remove the word “man” from 19 job titles, in an effort to make the service more inclusive now that all combat roles are open to women.
The review, mandated by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in January, will soon wrap-up and post the changes publicly in several days, according to an anonymous Marine official who spoke with Marine Corps Times.
Although many old titles will no longer exist, as they’ll be made gender neutral, some iconic titles still remain, such as “rifleman” and “mortar man.” This is unlikely to satisfy many Marines, who believe that political correctness has gone completely out of control.
“Names that were not changed, like rifleman, are steeped in Marine Corps history and ethos,” the official said. “Things that were changed needed to be updated to align with other MOS names.”
The service took numerous job titles and substituted the word “man” for “Marine,” as in the case of “basic infantry Marine” and “basic field artillery Marine.” The man in the military occupational specialty of “anti-tank missileman” will be substituted for “gunner.”
Mabus’ review order came a month after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter mandated that the services open up all combat roles to women—no exceptions. Carter brushed off the exemption request from the Marine Corps to keep some jobs male-only.
“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 to Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller in January. “Please review the position titles throughout the Marine Corps and ensure that they are gender-integrated as well, removing ‘man’ from the titles.”
As part of the integration effort, all Marines must also undergo unconscious bias training before women enter combat roles.
In response to Carter’s mandate, the Marine Corps has adopted a new set of combat test standards, which have resulted in 85 percent of women, or six out of seven, flunking right out.
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