[Music]
[Applause]
so I’d like to take you on a journey
into the secret world of boot camp to
the place where we make United States
Marines
it’s a journey filled with mud and sweat
and set in the swamps of Parris Island
South Carolina a place infested with
sand fleas snakes and alligators but
don’t worry I promise that when we’re
through you will not smell like a
recruit so imagine you’ve just completed
11 weeks of what your recruiter promised
is the toughest boot camp in the world
during your training you’ve done it all
you’ve learned martial arts and water
survival skills repelled off of
Hightower’s and survived the gas chamber
you’ve run and marched and you’ve
learned to shoot a rifle and you’ve just
completed the grueling 72 hour endurance
challenge known as the crucible the
final test in your journey to become a
United States Marine after marching nine
paintings to the finish line you now
stand in a formation surrounded by your
peers and during the ceremony as tears
stream down your face one of your drill
instructors present you with your very
own equal Globe and Anchor device and
for the first time cause you marine and
you feel awesome you’ve done it you now
join the less than 2% of Americans who
can say they’ve earned the title United
States Marine but what if I told you
that when you got to that parade deck
there was a row of chairs conspicuously
placed behind the female formation and
that a few of the women from your
platoon were sitting down because they
were too tired and sore to stand you
think to yourself aren’t my all tired
and sore
and then you notice there are no chairs
behind the male formation and you see a
few of those new male Marines looking at
you and looking at those women sitting
down and suddenly you don’t feel as
proud as you did a moment ago you see I
told you
Parris Island is the place where we make
Marines but what I didn’t tell you is
that it’s also the place where we create
gender stereotypes and lay the
foundation for sexism in our core and it
sells women and our National Defense
sure but it’s exactly what I found when
I took command of the 4th battalion the
only all-female unit in the entire
Department of Defense you see the Marine
Corps is the only service to maintain
segregated boot camp for men and women
and when I asked the leadership why I
was told that it was the only way to
create confidence and female recruits
but here’s the thing the evidence I
found conflicted directly with this
theory two tours on recruiting Duty had
taught me the Marine Corps had long
recruited women to lower standards and I
learned quickly that at Parris Island
they also trained them to lower
expectations
now like any battalion commander my
focus when I arrived at Parris Island
was on improving the performance of my
people I wanted to make my recruits
tougher faster and stronger because I
knew the better equipped they were the
better the more competitive they were
the better equipped the Marine Corps
would be to answer our nation’s call
when she needed us most so to get a
performance baseline I compared decades
of graduation scores between men and
women and what I found was shocking for
30 years
the female recruits had lagged behind
their male counterparts in every
graduation category from academics to
physical fitness and the worst part was
that no one had ever cared to ask the
world’s most dangerous question
why so much to the chagrin of my
leadership and my Marines I started
asking why a lot and I started with the
rifle range because in the Marine Corps
we have a slogan every marine a rifleman
but for the women at Parris Island this
just didn’t seem to be true for 30 years
the female recruits had only been able
to achieve a rifle range qualification
rate of between 67 and 72 percent by
comparison the male standard was between
88 and 92 percent so essentially a third
of each female class was unable to
qualify with their rifles and they were
way less accurate do you think these
women felt very confident so I set out
to challenge the myth that women
couldn’t shoot and what I found along
the way is that this belief was based on
a lot of assumptions but very few facts
it turned out that because women had
performed so poorly for so long the male
leadership simply assumed it was due to
some physiological or psychological
reason related to gender even the female
drill instructors began to believe it
and when this happened they spent less
time and effort focused on training the
women to achieve more it simply became
normal to expect the women to do less
and it resulted in a climate where being
called a woman was the worst insult that
any male recruit or marine could face
but when we stopped relying on
assumptions and we focused instead on
shooting fundamentals we saw immediate
results and in less than nine months the
women were maintaining a rifle range
qualification rate of just under 92% for
the first time ever
you talk about confidence I can tell you
the male recruits were shaking in their
boots because there isn’t an 18 year old
boy on the planet who wants to be beaten
by a woman especially one with a gun
and once my drill instructors saw what
they could accomplish on the rifle range
they wanted to achieve the same success
in every graduation category by simply
having higher expectations we were
destroying the myth that women couldn’t
compete needless to say I removed the
chairs behind my female formation and lo
and behold none of my new male female
Marines fell out and in fact they stood
taller these women were eager to show
their male counterparts that they were
equals and I was incredibly proud of
them but I told you that why is the most
dangerous question in the world and
despite our results or perhaps in spite
of them in June of 2015 I was relieved
of command because the male leadership
said I’d been too hard on my female
recruits and Marines in their view I’d
been too outspoken to direct and too
demanding I wonder if any other women
out there have heard those same things
and directly after I was fired
immediately after I was fired the Marine
Corps returned to the status quo for how
it trained women and I was devastated
but I fought back to me it was a matter
of principle for decades Parris Island
had churned out female Marines who were
infinitely less qualified than their
male counterparts putting them and their
units at risk America learned long ago
separate isn’t equal but the Marine
Corps refuses to see the obvious
segregated boot camp is not an effective
way to train and imagine the impact on
our national defense if we maintain the
status quo anyone who has been watching
the news knows that the Marine Corps is
struggling with diversity and inclusion
just think about the recent Marines
United photo-sharing scandal and the
reactions of many male Marines their
comments indicate a lack of respect for
their female counterparts where do they
learn that behavior they learn that
behavior at boot camp it’s time to
change the culture of the Marine Corps
starting with where we indoctrinate men
and women into our value system boot
camp here’s the thing to do that we know
the Marine Corps won’t make it happen on
their own and that’s why you’re here
each of you can make an impact and all
of us should be willing to ask the
world’s most dangerous questions why why
is the Marine Corps the only service to
maintain segregated boot camp when it’s
been proven to be an ineffective
practice in the year that I was at
Parris Island we proved that segregated
boot camp perpetuates negative
stereotypes against women but we also
prove that women are much stronger than
they’re given credit for
there’s a theory that peace comes from
deterrence and in many ways peace is the
byproduct of a strong military but we
can only have a strong military if we
tap into the full potential of America’s
51% women and this is something the
Marine Corps will only do if they’re
forced to change with your help I know
that like me you believe that our
national security is important and I
know that like me you understand that
making all Marines tougher faster and
stronger regardless of gender will make
the Marine Corps a better fighting force
so I’m asking for you to join me in the
fight I’m asking for you to take five
minutes to contact your representatives
in Congress to demand that the Marine
Corps integrate recruit training it’s
time to end segregation in America once
and for all if you want peace our
national security depends on it
thank you
[Applause]
[Applause]
so I’d like to take you on a journey
into the secret world of boot camp to
the place where we make United States
Marines
it’s a journey filled with mud and sweat
and set in the swamps of Parris Island
South Carolina a place infested with
sand fleas snakes and alligators but
don’t worry I promise that when we’re
through you will not smell like a
recruit so imagine you’ve just completed
11 weeks of what your recruiter promised
is the toughest boot camp in the world
during your training you’ve done it all
you’ve learned martial arts and water
survival skills repelled off of
Hightower’s and survived the gas chamber
you’ve run and marched and you’ve
learned to shoot a rifle and you’ve just
completed the grueling 72 hour endurance
challenge known as the crucible the
final test in your journey to become a
United States Marine after marching nine
paintings to the finish line you now
stand in a formation surrounded by your
peers and during the ceremony as tears
stream down your face one of your drill
instructors present you with your very
own equal Globe and Anchor device and
for the first time cause you marine and
you feel awesome you’ve done it you now
join the less than 2% of Americans who
can say they’ve earned the title United
States Marine but what if I told you
that when you got to that parade deck
there was a row of chairs conspicuously
placed behind the female formation and
that a few of the women from your
platoon were sitting down because they
were too tired and sore to stand you
think to yourself aren’t my all tired
and sore
and then you notice there are no chairs
behind the male formation and you see a
few of those new male Marines looking at
you and looking at those women sitting
down and suddenly you don’t feel as
proud as you did a moment ago you see I
told you
Parris Island is the place where we make
Marines but what I didn’t tell you is
that it’s also the place where we create
gender stereotypes and lay the
foundation for sexism in our core and it
sells women and our National Defense
sure but it’s exactly what I found when
I took command of the 4th battalion the
only all-female unit in the entire
Department of Defense you see the Marine
Corps is the only service to maintain
segregated boot camp for men and women
and when I asked the leadership why I
was told that it was the only way to
create confidence and female recruits
but here’s the thing the evidence I
found conflicted directly with this
theory two tours on recruiting Duty had
taught me the Marine Corps had long
recruited women to lower standards and I
learned quickly that at Parris Island
they also trained them to lower
expectations
now like any battalion commander my
focus when I arrived at Parris Island
was on improving the performance of my
people I wanted to make my recruits
tougher faster and stronger because I
knew the better equipped they were the
better the more competitive they were
the better equipped the Marine Corps
would be to answer our nation’s call
when she needed us most so to get a
performance baseline I compared decades
of graduation scores between men and
women and what I found was shocking for
30 years
the female recruits had lagged behind
their male counterparts in every
graduation category from academics to
physical fitness and the worst part was
that no one had ever cared to ask the
world’s most dangerous question
why so much to the chagrin of my
leadership and my Marines I started
asking why a lot and I started with the
rifle range because in the Marine Corps
we have a slogan every marine a rifleman
but for the women at Parris Island this
just didn’t seem to be true for 30 years
the female recruits had only been able
to achieve a rifle range qualification
rate of between 67 and 72 percent by
comparison the male standard was between
88 and 92 percent so essentially a third
of each female class was unable to
qualify with their rifles and they were
way less accurate do you think these
women felt very confident so I set out
to challenge the myth that women
couldn’t shoot and what I found along
the way is that this belief was based on
a lot of assumptions but very few facts
it turned out that because women had
performed so poorly for so long the male
leadership simply assumed it was due to
some physiological or psychological
reason related to gender even the female
drill instructors began to believe it
and when this happened they spent less
time and effort focused on training the
women to achieve more it simply became
normal to expect the women to do less
and it resulted in a climate where being
called a woman was the worst insult that
any male recruit or marine could face
but when we stopped relying on
assumptions and we focused instead on
shooting fundamentals we saw immediate
results and in less than nine months the
women were maintaining a rifle range
qualification rate of just under 92% for
the first time ever
you talk about confidence I can tell you
the male recruits were shaking in their
boots because there isn’t an 18 year old
boy on the planet who wants to be beaten
by a woman especially one with a gun
and once my drill instructors saw what
they could accomplish on the rifle range
they wanted to achieve the same success
in every graduation category by simply
having higher expectations we were
destroying the myth that women couldn’t
compete needless to say I removed the
chairs behind my female formation and lo
and behold none of my new male female
Marines fell out and in fact they stood
taller these women were eager to show
their male counterparts that they were
equals and I was incredibly proud of
them but I told you that why is the most
dangerous question in the world and
despite our results or perhaps in spite
of them in June of 2015 I was relieved
of command because the male leadership
said I’d been too hard on my female
recruits and Marines in their view I’d
been too outspoken to direct and too
demanding I wonder if any other women
out there have heard those same things
and directly after I was fired
immediately after I was fired the Marine
Corps returned to the status quo for how
it trained women and I was devastated
but I fought back to me it was a matter
of principle for decades Parris Island
had churned out female Marines who were
infinitely less qualified than their
male counterparts putting them and their
units at risk America learned long ago
separate isn’t equal but the Marine
Corps refuses to see the obvious
segregated boot camp is not an effective
way to train and imagine the impact on
our national defense if we maintain the
status quo anyone who has been watching
the news knows that the Marine Corps is
struggling with diversity and inclusion
just think about the recent Marines
United photo-sharing scandal and the
reactions of many male Marines their
comments indicate a lack of respect for
their female counterparts where do they
learn that behavior they learn that
behavior at boot camp it’s time to
change the culture of the Marine Corps
starting with where we indoctrinate men
and women into our value system boot
camp here’s the thing to do that we know
the Marine Corps won’t make it happen on
their own and that’s why you’re here
each of you can make an impact and all
of us should be willing to ask the
world’s most dangerous questions why why
is the Marine Corps the only service to
maintain segregated boot camp when it’s
been proven to be an ineffective
practice in the year that I was at
Parris Island we proved that segregated
boot camp perpetuates negative
stereotypes against women but we also
prove that women are much stronger than
they’re given credit for
there’s a theory that peace comes from
deterrence and in many ways peace is the
byproduct of a strong military but we
can only have a strong military if we
tap into the full potential of America’s
51% women and this is something the
Marine Corps will only do if they’re
forced to change with your help I know
that like me you believe that our
national security is important and I
know that like me you understand that
making all Marines tougher faster and
stronger regardless of gender will make
the Marine Corps a better fighting force
so I’m asking for you to join me in the
fight I’m asking for you to take five
minutes to contact your representatives
in Congress to demand that the Marine
Corps integrate recruit training it’s
time to end segregation in America once
and for all if you want peace our
national security depends on it
thank you
[Applause]
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