WASHINGTON D.C. (WTVR)—A newly released report declares that half of female Marines in boot camp are unable to execute the minimum standard of three pull-ups.
This standard of three pull-ups minimum applies to male and female Marines.
As a result of the data, the Marines have delayed the requirement that was part of the process to equalize physical standards to integrate women into combat jobs.
Gen. James F. Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, told the Associated Press last August that “early steps to begin moving women into artillery, tank air defense and combat engineer units have been successful, but the more difficult tests lie ahead.”
The Marines intend to maintain the same standards for men and women, as thousands of jobs opened in February 2012 that allowed women into smaller units closer to fighting and once considered too dangerous.
Now that the test requirement has been postponed, officials said that women will be able to choose which test of upper-body strength to be graded on in their annual physical fitness test.
Their choices:
-Pullups, with three the minimum. Three is also the minimum for male Marines, but they need 20 for a perfect rating.
-A flexed-arm hang. The minimum is for 15 seconds; women get a perfect score if they last for 70 seconds. Men don't do the hang in their test.
The findings and suspension aren’t without controversy.
It “is a clear indication" that plans to move women into direct ground combat fighting teams will not work, said Elaine Donnelly, president of the conservative Center for Military Readiness and a critic of allowing women into infantry jobs, reported the AP.
Of the roughly 200,000 Marines enrolled, 13,700 are female, reports the AP.
