VOA新闻杂志2023--US Marines Slow to Combine Women, Men in Training

US Marines Slow to Combine Women, Men in Training

The U.S. Marines have officially begun combining men and women during their first major training exercises called boot camp. But so far, military leaders appear to be moving slowly to fully² join the two sexes together during all training activities.

Reporters from the Associated Press recently visited a Marine¹ Corps³ base in South Carolina that combines male and female boot camp training. They observed the training exercises and spoke⁴ with leaders about the Marines' current policy.

During intense heat at Marine Base Parris Island, two young recruits⁶ were battling inside a training space. Circling them, a training commander shouted orders, "Hit her! Punch her! DO something!"

Outside the space were a mix of male and female Marine hopefuls. The recruits are appointed to one of the mixed-sex companies, or large military groups. The Marine Corps is moving slowly— and at times unwillingly— to combine training women and men at boot camp, the Associated Press reports.

Sometimes the joint⁷ training has been successful. Other times not.

In the training space, men and women are together while completing timed physical exercises or practicing firing guns. But the line of recruits around the swimming pool outside presents the opposite. There, companies are broken up into smaller groups called platoons. The platoons remain separated by sex. As the recruits line up, there is a small group of women standing⁸ at the front with groups of men behind them.

The boot camp training methods suggest Marine Corps leaders still intensely believe there must be some separation in training.

Marine deactivated⁹ training unit

It has been nearly eight years since the defense¹⁰ secretary at the time ordered all fighting-related jobs open to women. But the Marine Corps just deactivated a training unit at Parris Island this summer. The unit was created in 1986 to accept women.

Many Marine Corps officers forcefully defend the training separation. Some leaders have strongly expressed the belief that women can grow more confident quickly if they are not directly competing with often larger or stronger males.

Under pressure from Congress, the Marines Corps changed the unit for women into a mixed-sex group in recent years. It then officially deactivated it in June. The remaining recruit⁵ companies are either mixed-sex or all male.

Inside the pool, men and women struggle side by side, jumping into the water and swimming to the other end. Boot camp trainers are also a mix of men and women. They stand on the edge of the pool ready to throw a float or jump in if needed.

But outside, an all-male group of recruits moves through the woods. The individuals drop to move forward on their hands and knees across a stretch of burning hot sand. A second group training outside also includes no women.

General Walker Field, who leads Marine Base Parris Island, told the AP he believes keeping the platoons separated by sex is an important part of forming successful Marines.

Field explained that the Marine Corps has established proven training methods over the years. Part of this process involves breaking down recruits and then building them back up as successful team members. Field argued that the platoon model is especially important to that success.

Field said keeping platoons all male or female permits leaders to provide exactly what is needed for each group when they are together in the evenings. He added that being the same sex at the platoon level also makes it easier for leaders to make the best training decisions at all times.

Lieutenant¹¹ Colonel¹² Aixa Dones is one female Marine officer who strongly supports a continued separation. Dones served as the last commander of Parris Island's women-only unit before it was deactivated this year. She was also a recruit there and says about the experience, "I can't imagine it having gone any other way."

Sergeant¹³ Maria Torres is a training commander. She told the AP she thinks combining companies is a necessary, first step. But expanding it to the platoon level might have poor results, so "we'd have to start small," Torres added.

Many disagree

But many people disagree. They say keeping platoons separate only reinforces the idea that women are not considered equal and should be treated differently.

Erin Kirk is a former Marine sergeant who went through the separated training in 2010. She remembers how male recruits looked down on women in the unit, with some even criticizing the females and calling them names. The split¹⁴, she said, divided them into "male Marines" and "female Marines." She believes that shaped how the men saw the women. It made it more difficult for them to work together as they moved along.

"It made you feel like you weren't part of the team. It made it difficult to be seen as a real Marine," said Kirk, who served for five years. She believes mixed-sex platoons would be a good way for women to be seen as equals and not as "other" recruits.

When asked about those issues, Lieutenant Dones disagreed that the separation presents problems for women. "Our female platoons have been outperforming our male teams, and we have had more female company honor graduates than we have had male," she said.

Some young female recruits spoke to the AP about the current recruitment process.

Nicole Momura said she chose to join the Marine Corps because she thought it was the hardest military branch. "This recruit was looking for something bigger than herself," the 22-year-old added. Momura is not concerned about the platoon separation, saying, "We're all going to be working together in the fleet."

Another recruit, 19-year-old Nubia Delatorre, said she is proud to be a member of the second female platoon in her company. But she admits the men and women do not interact¹⁵ very much. She said the females are not permitted to talk to the males.

However, Delatorre said she believes women and men get the same training. In her case, she said she decided¹⁶ to join the Marines because she wanted "to prove to myself that I could do something hard."

Words in This Story

recruit–n. someone who is in the process of joining the armed forces but isn't fully trained yet

confident–adj. strong belief in yourself

the fleet–n. full military operational units; not training

proud–adj. feeling very pleased about something you have done

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 recruit   

n.招聘，新兵，新成员；v.恢复，补充，招募

参考例句：

• The country's first act would be to recruit for the navy.国家的第一个行动是为海军征募新兵。
• This is a nationwide campaign to recruit women into trade unions.这是一次吸收妇女参加工会的全国性运动。

6 recruits   

新兵( recruit的名词复数 )； （机构中的）新成员； 就业； 人才开发

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits. 一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• The recruits are exercised every day in the art of self-defence. 新兵每天训练自卫技能。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 deactivated   

v.解除动员( deactivate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；复员；使不活动

参考例句：

• \"The brain can be deactivated. It can be yours to command.\" “大脑计算机可以被停止。如果你下达命令的话。” 来自互联网
• He successfully deactivated a nuclear reactor in a laboratory before meltdown. 他成功停用一个核反应堆在实验室之前崩溃。 来自互联网

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

13 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

14 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

15 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。