More than 50 new female Marines look to become the first women to graduate from a historically all-male training base in California after they completed their final, three-day exercise.
For the first time in its 100-year history, a total of 53 women trained in the first-ever coed company at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, according to Military.com.
Their final task was to complete what the training base calls the Crucible on Thursday morning.
After completion of the grueling three-day event, the recruits were presented with the eagle, globe and anchor pins.
More than 50 new female Marines have made history by completing the final exercise required of recruits in boot camp
A total of 53 women trained in the first-ever coed company at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
The Marines look forward to becoming the first women to graduate from a historically all-male training base in California
Their final task was to complete what the training base calls the Crucible on Thursday morning
A female United States Marine Corps (USMC) recruit from Lima Company, the first gender integrated training class in San Diego, aims down the sight of a rifle during The Crucible, the final part of phase three of recruit training before officially becoming US Marines
The platoon is part of Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, which won the final drill competition, Capt Martin Harris, told Military.com.
The competition consists of instructors giving the recruits random tasks to perform on the parade deck. The platoon is then evaluated by drill masters.
Harris told the news site that the female platoon had the highest physical and combat fitness test scores throughout the 13-week boot camp curriculum.
He said the female platoon ‘won all the physical events’.
Other impressive feats for the platoon included their scores on the rifle range, which were also higher than the average female platoon at the training base in South Carolina.
The recruits first arrived at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego boot camp in February. A total of 60 women were among those who joined the coed company, making Depot San Diego no longer a men-only institution.
Female recruits from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Lima Company, participate in the grueling crucible training as they break a barrier becoming the first ever women Marines trained at Camp Pendleton, California
A female recruit participates in the second day of the Crucible training on Wednesday
A female recruit from Lima Company is seen in the mud holding a weapon during the Crucible event on Wednesday
The competition consists of instructors giving the recruits (pictured) random tasks to perform on the parade deck. The platoon is then evaluated by drill masters
Chief drill instructor staff Sergeant Amber Staroscik (right) announces her platoon of female recruits from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on Thursday
Recruits are seen participating in day-two of the Crucible boot camp training on Wednesday
Lima Company also won the final drill competition, Capt Martin Harris, said. Harris said the female platoon had the highest physical and combat fitness test scores throughout the 13-week boot camp curriculum
Female recruits from Lima Company are seen during boot camp on Thursday as they finished the third day of events
Recruits are seen during a hiking portion of the Crucible on Thursday morning
They had to carry 60 pound packs at the end of their 9.7 mile hike on Edson Range to the top of a mountain called The Reaper
Abigail Ragland, 20, a female recruit from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego smiles while participating in the grueling crucible training on Wednesday
A Navy Hospital Corpsman attends to a foot blister as United States Marine Corps (USMC) recruits from Lima Company on Wednesday
In 2019, Congress ordered the San Diego boot camp to integrate women into its training battalions by 2028. The Parris Island depot in South Carolina must do so by 2025.
Until now, all female recruits have attended boot camp at the Marines’ East Coast training base in Parris Island. It also has been home to the occasional integrated recruit company.
Staff Sgt Ayesha Zantt, a Marine drill instructor, recently transferred to San Diego from Parris Island, where she has led recruits since 2017. Women training in San Diego is a big step for the Marines, she said.
‘It’s history,’ she said at the time. ‘It’s important.’
Just like the all-male companies trained in San Diego over the years, the women’s platoon lived in a squad bay in the company’s barracks.
Recruits climb up an obstacle course during the Crucible training on Wednesday
A female recruit (right) from US Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is seen during an exercise on Wednesday
Other impressive feats for the platoon included their scores on the rifle range, which were also higher than the average female platoon at the training base in South Carolina
The recruits are seen with their male counterparts during day two of the final boot camp exercise on Wednesday
A female recruit from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego participates in the grueling crucible training on Wednesday
Recruits are seen in combat during the three-day event from Tuesday through Thursday
Lime Company recruits carry casualties to Medevac following a simulated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on an obstacle course during the Crucible on Wednesday
Capt Ashley Sands oversaw three Lima Company platoons as lead series commander, including the women’s
After completion of the three-day event, the recruits were presented with the eagle, globe and anchor pins
Recruits from Lima Company hydrate and eat oranges after receiving their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor pins to officially become US Marines
Capt Ashley Sands oversaw three Lima Company platoons as lead series commander, including the women’s.
Col Matt Palma, the commanding officer of the recruit training regiment, said the women of Lima Company endured the same training obstacles as the men — including the grueling ‘Reaper’ hike at Camp Pendleton that is part of the last phase of training.
During the hike, recruits traverse rugged terrain and charge up a steep ridge while carrying 55-pound packs.
The Marines are decades behind other military services, which integrated their recruit training by the 1990s.
Palma said that the depot has most of the facilities needed to integrate in San Diego, but there aren’t enough women recruits to have integrated companies all the time, he said. Women only comprise about 8 per cent of the Marine Corps.
Lima Company will serve as a ‘proof of concept,’ which means it will be used to demonstrate that San Diego can effectively train women alongside men. The depot has requested to train another cohort of women this summer but is still waiting on a decision, Palma said.
