Marines switching to gender-neutral titles

Marine riflemen and mortarmen will keep their job titles even as 19 others change in keeping with a mandate from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to make them more friendly to female troops.

Nevertheless, opponents of including women in Marine Corps combat forces, such as Gen. Robert Neller, say that physical testing has shown repeatedly that women struggle to make physical benchmarks, and that they could therefore be liabilities in combat. As the change in policy has unfolded during the last few years, it has been met with resistance, most notably by the Marine Corps. “Please review the position titles throughout the Marine Corps and ensure that they are gender-integrated as well, removing “man” from the titles”.

Nostalgia and tradition may also play a role. There are some existing titles that contain the word “man”, like “rifleman”, which will remain intact.

The move follows an effort by senior military officials to integrate more women into combat roles.

However, according to Stars and Stripes, the Air Force has rejected changing job titles such as “airman”.

“You know, I was going to [complain] about PC crap … but “Infantry Assault Marine” sounds kinda cool …”

The other three title changes pertain to positions associated with reconnaissance Marine (formerly reconnaissance man) occupational specialties.

The job titles that are changing include: basic infantry Marine, light-armor vehicle Marine, basic field artillery Marine, reconnaissance Marine, antitank missile gunner, field artillery fire control Marine, field artillery operations chief and armor Marine.

Arguably the most radical change will be made to the “M1A1 tank crewman” MOS.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus mandated job title reviews for both the Navy and Marines in January, the Times said, not long after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced all military jobs would open to women.

The new titles are clunkier than the old ones, as well as redundant. But it won’t be reviewing gender-specific job titles.

The service is expected to release the results of its review later this fall.