Marines developing gender-neutral MOS tests as 11 new jobs open to women
Jul. 31, 2014 - 06:00AM |
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff WriterWhat do you think of the new of the Corps' approach to integration? Are they doing it right? Send a letter to the editor at: marinelet@marinecorpstimes.com
The Corps’ top general said the service plans to adopt a gender-neutral screening test that would assess Marines’ physical qualifications for various military specialties. The plan follows a separate announcement that immediately opened 11 new jobs to female Marines that were previously closed to women.
In an editorial published in the July edition of the Marine Corps Gazette, Commandant Gen. Jim Amos revealed initial findings of research and testing from its Women in Service Review process, sketching out next steps as the evaluation continues.
Corps officials started developing a physical screening test last year, designed to evaluate Marines’ ability to perform in specific job specialties, including combat fields. Defense officials previously told Marine Corps Times the test would be akin to a “physical ASVAB,” the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test prospective service members take before enlisting. But unlike the ASVAB, this would be Marine Corps-specific.
While the deadline to complete its four-stage study on female integration is the end of 2015, the Marines’ plan included the opening of certain combat jobs ahead of schedule. On July 16, following a petition to the Secretary of the Navy, the Marines Corps received approval to open the first 11 previously closed combat-related MOSs:
¦ 0803 Target acquisition officer
¦ 0842 Field artillery radar operator
¦ 0847 Field artillery meteorologist
¦ 2110 Ordnance vehicle maintenance officer
¦ 2131 Towed artillery repairer/technician
¦ 2141 Assault amphibious vehicle repairer/technician
¦ 2146 Main battle tank repairer/technician
¦ 2147 Light armored vehicle repairer/technician
¦ 2149 Ordnance vehicle maintenance chief
¦ 7204 Low altitude air defense officer
¦ 7212 Low altitude air defense gunner
The move opens 2,122 positions to female Marines, said Capt. Maureen Krebs, a Marine spokeswoman at the Pentagon. The opening also puts a spotlight on Marine Corps efforts to create a gender-neutral qualification test for the newly open combat jobs.
Officials at Marine Corps Training and Education Command analyzed all 335 Marine Corps primary MOSs, isolating 29 jobs with built-in entry-level physical qualification standards, Amos wrote in his editorial. They then narrowed a list of 278 possible physical tasks related to the MOSs to create a battery of five tests with 14 different pass-fail tasks, Amos wrote. The tasks included challenges such as lifting various weights and scaling a 7-foot wall in full combat armor.
The Marine Corps administered these tests last year to 800 Marines, roughly half male and half female. After analysis, officials found that success during the new tests often correlated strongly to achievement on events in the existing service-wide physical and combat fitness tests.
Performance on the following five PFT and CFT events had the strongest correlation to performance on the proxy test: the three-mile run, pullups, maneuver under fire, movement to contact and ammunition can lift.
Crunches were found to have only a moderate correlation to success on the new screening test, Amos said. And the flexed-arm hang — which has been extended as the arm strength requirement for female Marines in place of pullups — was found to be weak preparation for the test.
For now, Amos said, all enlisted Marines signing a contract to enter a ground combat arms occupational field will have to complete two pullups, 44 crunches, and a 1.5-mile run in less than 13½ minutes.
Those requirements are identical to the initial strength test all prospective male Marines need to pass in order to enlist in the Corps. Female poolees have to pass a differently scored test that includes a 12-second flexed-arm hang, 35 situps in two minutes, and a 1½ mile run in less than 15 minutes.
And before any recruit is assigned a ground combat arms MOS during boot camp, he or she will have to score at least a third class on what is currently the male scoring system for the PFT and CFT. Young officers at the Basic School will continue to be required to score a first-class PFT and CFT on the gender-specific scoring chart before assignment to any MOS school...
marinecorpstimes.com |
