The First Lady Leader of Marine Corps Infantry

Lt. Marina A. Hierl: the first female Marine combat platoon commander. Finally, the glass of gender prejudice is broken in the infantry division of Marine Corps. With the celebration of the 100th year of women serving the Marine Corps, this news is just the cherry on the icing. In September 2017, Lt. Marina A. Hierl graduated with the degree of Infantry Officer Course at Quantico, Virginia. She had to go through various hurdles in this 13-week course after which she emerged as the leader of the infantry squad. She confirmed that the 13-week course was challenging from the physical as well as the mental perspective.

The anniversary celebration of Marine Corps is the service anniversary of Opha May Johnson, the first woman who was appointed as a clerk in Marine Corps. The 100 years of women serving in the Marine Corps will also open gates for an exhibition. In this exhibition, one will get to see the contribution of all female Mariners. This exhibition will later be a part of Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The journey of Marina A. Heirl

Coming back to Marina A. Heirl, she was never a fame seeker and did not wish to get any special attention for being the first lady to hold such a position. While she was doing her graduation she wanted to keep her presence as anonymous. But only a year later when she was leading the infantry platoon that consisted of 35 males. This was during the training exercise that was being conducted in Australia. After this, her wish was to remain anonymous was not possible and she was featured in the New York Times.

Knowing her story, young ladies will definitely get inspired as she was just like any other girl with big dreams. At the age of 24, she is being in this position that everyone is taking pride in. Her childhood was spent in Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. She worked on a horse farm before she enrolled herself for the course in the University of Southern California. Like most girl her age, she also wanted to do something big in life. She said in one of her interviews, "I wanted to be part of a group of people that would be willing to die for each other." This desire made her join the Marines.

In 2013, the defense secretary was Leon Panetta. He was the one who said that this ban on women pursuing combat is unnecessary and thus the ban was lifted. This was the time since when Hierl had been planning to become a part of the Marine with a strong goal to be the leader of the platoon. Though the ban was lifted, it was not until 2015 when women were being allowed in the infantry. As per reports, Marines was the last to introduce women in combat oriented roles.

In her words, the journey had been challenging. First being the first woman to get a graduation degree in Infantry and then the first woman platoon commander. The experience of leading Camp Pendleton in California was a different feeling altogether as the dream of Hierl finally came true.

When Hierl was completing this course, many other women joined it as well. But the training was quite challenging and only two of the girls could pass and Heirl was one of the two. The other female who passed the examination had taken training to the next level by going up for an intelligence school. Once she completes her course there, she would become the first woman intelligence officer.

Just after her arrival in the Echo Company, she had to face the brunt of skepticism. But now when she is being focused on her job and continuing to maintain her responsibilities as a leader, she is gaining that desired respect from the fellow Mariners.

A look over the history

In Marines, the history of women in service began with Opha May Johnson. She was the first woman who took the clerical duty in the Marine Corps Reserve. On August 12, 1918, the then Navy secretary named Josephus Daniels declared that women are allowed in the clerical positions. The very next day Opha joined and started her service. She was among the 305 other women who enlisted themselves for the post. The year when Opha secured the post in Marine Corps was a time when the woman didn’t have the right to vote. So, the 39-year-old Opha serving at the Marine Corps Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia was a big deal for women at that time.

Since 2001, the contribution of female force has been immense. In the wars of Iran and Afghanistan, around 15,000 females contributed among which 10 women faced death. In the Iraq war of 2005, Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette lost her life and she was the first woman to become a martyr of Marine in the war. She lost her life in Fallujah when her convoy came across an explosive attack.

Till date, the number of female employees in Marine Corps is really less of compared to similar sectors like Air Force, Navy, and Army. But with time and effort of people like Heirl, the numbers are expected to go high with time.

As per reports, not only infantry has got Hierl but there is more news to come of first ladies in several other sectors of Marines. This year there are reports of recruitment of female officers in tank handling, assault amphibious vehicles, artillery and all are first-timers.

Such examples of women empowerment are encouraging and giving hope to all other women who are still tied up in the pangs of patriarchy and is struggling for existence. The path might be difficult. Women like Hierl and Opha fought with the time and once the laws changed, they were ready to prove themselves not as superior beings but as equal beings in the society.

Source:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/female-marines-continue-make-history-100-years-allowed/story?id=57133753