Marines wanted: A few good women
Marine Corps seeks more female leaders, at boot camp and beyond
By Gretel C. Kovach
APRIL 6, 2013
On Monday nights when shaggy-haired young men with restless video-game thumbs hustle off the bus at the recruit depot in San Diego, one of the first Marines they see is a woman.
Sgt. Maj. Jennifer Simmons, standing straight-backed under her “Smokey Bear” hat — the iconic campaign cover of a Marine drill instructor — is a regular at recruit pickup, when the 12-week transformation from civilian to Marine begins.
As senior enlisted leader of Support Battalion, she oversees most training at the depot, from the drill instructor school to recruit martial arts.
Whoever thinks women don’t belong in the Corps hasn’t dared tell Simmons, a three-time combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“No one treats me special. They treat me like a sergeant major in the Marine Corps, and I demand that respect, whether I’m on the depot or at Camp Pendleton, anywhere,” Simmons said.
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