FRIDAY FOTO (July 2, 2021) UPDATE

The Marines are looking for a few good …

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Andrew Jones) Please click on the photo to enlarge the image.

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U.S. Marines with Platoon 3241, Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stand in formation at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, on May 6, 2021.

This company of Marines was the first gender integrated company made at MCRD San Diego, previously female recruits were trained in female-only companies at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The Marine Corps was the last U.S. armed service to cease training male and female recruits separately.

The Marine holding the red pennant is the guidon bearer, or guide. The Marine on the left in dress blues is the platoon honor graduate who will take possession the guidon near the end of the graduation and turn it over to one of the Lima Company drill instructors in a short ceremony before receiving her honor award from the battalion commander. One of the female drill instructors, sword in hand, is visible on the right.

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Updating this post to clarify that: While the Marine Corps has begun forming training companies with both all female and all male platoons, there are no gender-integrated platoons of recruits. This update also corrects that there are no male Marines in the photo of this graduating female platoon.

SHAKO: International Women’s Day 2021

Women’s Day.

March is Women’s History Month but today, Monday, March 8, 2021 is International Women’s Day.

We thought we’d mark this special occasion with some news, and four pictures that are worth a thousand words.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, Air Mobility Command chief (right) learns the features of an all-terrain vehicle in 2020 at Travis Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sergeant David W. Carbajal)

On March 6, the White House announced a slate of nominees to lead a trio of U.S. combatant commands — including two women whose nominations were previously held up over concerns they would not be approved by then-President Donald Trump.

According to Defense News, Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost, who took over Air Mobility Command in August, has been nominated to lead U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees .

Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, commanding general of U.S. Army North speaks with fire fighters and soldiers during the 2020 wildland fire in California’s Mendocino National Forest.  (U.S. Army photo by Specialist Michael Ybarra)

And Army Lieutenant General Laura Richardson, currently the head of U.S. Army North, has been nominated for a fourth star and to take over U.S. Southern Command.

And below are some photos from the Defense Department website, showing the numerous roles women play in today’s U.S. armed forces. Click on all photos to enlarge the image.

(U.S. National Guard photo by Army Chief Master Sergeant David H. Lipp)

 

Master Sergeant Jennifer Freeman, a member of the first female biathlon team from the North Dakota National Guard, takes aim at range targets during the Chief National Guard Bureau Biathlon Championships at the Camp Ripley Training Center, near Little Falls, Minnesota on February 24, 2021.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Kevin G. Rivas)

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant Kylee Daitz, a field artillery officer, with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division, trains as a joint fire observer during exercise Winter Fury 21 at Camp Roy W. Burt, California on January 29, 2021. Joint fire observers are responsible for requesting, controlling, and adjusting close air support fire such as artillery, mortars, and naval surface gunfire.

(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Matt Hecht)

Army Sergeant Kendra Hallett, left, receives the Covid-19 vaccine from Air Force Technical Sergeant Deborah Macalalad of the 108th Medical Group, New Jersey Air National Guard, on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, February 21, 2021.

 

(U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Gabrielle Huezo)

Quartermaster 3rd Class Makayla Roney and Quartermaster 2nd Class Stephanie Torres stand quartermaster of the watch aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams ( on February 25 2021. The Williams is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

FRIDAY FOTO (July 5, 2019)

This is How We do it.

(Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Dana Beesley)

Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Chewanda Roberts instructs recruits on proper drill movements during their evening routine at what used to be called boot camp — Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina on June 27, 2019.

Staff Sergeant Roberts is a drill instructor, or D.I., one of the most important jobs in the Corps — turning mostly teenage civilians into Marines in just 13 weeks.

Look at the expressions on the recruits’ faces. They say a lot without words.