In a move that has left some of its members disgruntled, the U.S. Marines Corps has decided to make a number of their service titles gender neutral by removing the word “man” from combat jobs-and as you might have guessed by now, some dudes be angry.
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Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the military in December to open all military jobs to women, including the Marine Corps and special operations forces like Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets.
The Manpower and Reserve Affairs spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that an official announcement could be released in the coming days.
One official told the Marine Corps Times: “Names that were not changed, like rifleman, are steeped in Marine Corps history and ethos”. And that was by careful design, said a Marine official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
For 15 job titles, the word “man” will be replaced with “Marine”.
Top service leaders are pushing to keep the word “man” in some of the most iconic occupations, however, according to the Marine Corps Times, as names like “seaman” could be scrapped.
0847 – Field artillery sensor support Marine.
Basic engineer, construction and equipment Marine.
Infantrymen Basic infantry Marines even more so.
The job titles that are changing include: basic infantry Marine, light-armor vehicle Marine, basic field artillery Marine, reconnaissance Marine, antitank missile gunner, field artillery fire control Marine, field artillery operations chief and armor Marine.
Antitank missileman, for instance, will become antitank gunner. Earlier this month, a 19-year-old became the first female recruit to enlist with an infantry contract, signalling the start of a new normal for the Marine Corps. That said, none of the new titles are egregiously silly and the intent here is reasonable.
‘But on the other, it’s a direct reflection on society’s crybaby political correctness’. While numerous remarks can not be quoted in full here because of expletives, the Facebook page of the Marine Corps’ unofficial scribe – Terminal Lance – is, at the time of writing, a flurry of discussion on the topic.
“Not really seeing why this matters”, one comment read, according to the Post. “We don’t need [people who are easily offended] like that clogging up the institutions that protect our country”.
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Many ground combat job titles are changing, however.
