The Army's first female infantry recruit, a 25-year-old police officer from Louisiana, will report to basic training next year.
Tammy Grace Barnett took the oath of enlistment Thursday at Military Entrance Processing Station Shreveport. She plans to serve in military occupational specialty 11X, one of a series of MOSs that opened to women April 1.
ARMY TIMES
Army seeks enlisted women for infantry, armor and 12 other combat jobs
Barnett initially visited Army recruiters in November, she said in an Army news release. She told TV station KSLA that she'd planned to enter the military police ranks, "but infantry is similar, and they are more on the front lines, like law enforcement here, and I said that's what I want to do."
She'll head to Fort Benning, Georgia, in June 2017 for basic training. The 14-month delay "is to allow the Army to properly prepare for new trainees by having trained female officers and [noncommissioned officers] in position," Army Recruiting Battalion Baton Rouge public affairs chief Roger Harmon said via email. "This allows female soldiers the opportunity to attend training and serve in a MOS previously only available to male soldiers."
Another MOS gender barrier fell recently at a recruiting station in Horseheads, a central New York town about 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border. There, Kaitlyn Stanton enlisted as a fire support specialist (MOS 13F), which opened to women April 1 along with 11-series specialties and other combat-related jobs.
Another female 13F recruit is set to enlist early next week in the Seattle area, a Recruiting Command spokesman said.
Barnett plans to celebrate her gender-equity milestone by going fishing with family this weekend. She's also already made some career plans.
"I have served the front lines in my hometown ... and now I am going to serve the front lines for my country,” Barnett said in the release. “I want to deploy, see action, and I definitely want to go to Airborne school.”
An insert from here.
I'm an infantry man specifically an 11C in the US army. Currently I serve as an instructor in mortar related training and frankly my opinion is very low of this maneuver made by high command. I think this is just a disaster waiting to happen because up to this day they still haven't said which standards are females going to adhere to (Which in my opinion should the be normalized ones to graduate) but knowing TRADOC and their bullshit of magnanimous proportions they are gonna fuck it up as always. While I do know that there are woman who exist who can pass the physical requirements to do the job they are far and few in between which makes it economically un viable for the army as they are investing in a soldier and they expect a return investment from that.
Frankly I don't see the normal female to be able to carry this type of equipment through the day. Which could be upwards of 15 miles or 20 miles depending on when their next objective is. The total weight of his equipment should be upwards to around 80 to 90 lbs. Do you expect somebody who is around 140lb to carry 90lbs of equipment for hours on end?
Care to share your thoughts?