Marine Corps Trains Female Servicemembers
The Lioness program is a Marine Corps all female Search Team, that was first formed a number of years ago to support a culturally sensitive approach when female Muslim and Iraqi women needed to be searched. Because it is not culturally possible for men to search females, a program was created where female Marine Corps members were used to search female members of the Iraqi population.
There are a number of new training regiments that are working to train new members for the program. Female Marines are being trained for the Lioness program to help provide support for the program, which has been very successful at maintaining a level of security for a number of efforts. As the need for searching citizens to maintain security checkpoints increases, there is an increasing need for females search team members. The Lioness program has been a successful Marine Corps program that has provided trained and skilled female soldiers that can work to search members of the Iraqi citizens that are women.
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About 50 percent of the citizens of the country of Iraq are women, and there is an ongoing active need to be able to search women along with male members of the citizens, without given a cultural insult. Using female members of the Marine Corps Lioness program, women can be searched to make sure they are not carrying weapons or explosive, or other contraband.
i am doing a research paper in english. the topic is should females in the military be excluded from direct combat or other hazardous situations? i thought it would be cool if some people stated their opion
Gloria,
Warfare has changed, there is no actual “front line” to keep female soldiers behind. The U.S. law generally prohibits women from serving in “Frontline Combat units”, Today, however, all units operating in theater can expect to be engaged in combat in a counter-insurgency. Of the 4000+ U.S. casualties 781 are female soldiers (300+ killed in action). The article above shows that there are military duties that can BEST be performed by women, so my humble opinion is that they already DO perform in combat situations, and have proven themselves effective, sometimes more so than their male counterparts.
I think the Lioness Program is GREAT!!! Obviously women can, and have shown, they can fight on the front line. The law prohibiting them from fighting in combat should be changed. They are soldiers too! The U.S. service no longer sees in black and white, and they should stop seeing in ‘pink’ and ‘blue’. The only colors they should see are the colors of the American Flag in which they put their lives on the line for.
I belive this program is a good idea , and it gives women who want to do more the chance. im a future female marine and i want to defend my country but sit in an office all day
oorah
This is great! But the only problem with women on the front is (and I am a woman) is the distraction they may pose when in dangerous situations although men are to treat everyone as equal a woman is also a mother a sister a girlfriend and maybe just maybe instinct would be to try to keep a third eye on a female putting themselves the group and the objective at risk. Females have always been and always will be apart of the armed forces in all areas but there is a line that will seperate the sexes,w/out trying to sound sexist. I belive that technology today makes it very easy to get from point a to point b and get the job done in min.time w/out or min loss of life..I wish they had this for the poor souls at Iwo Jima.
So good luck to these women and they should be honored to be apart of history of a country built souly on courage and sacrafice..God I love this country!
I for one am a female marine and id just like to say that the lioness program is a great program not just because it gives u a great sense of accomplishment but also because its such a selfless program that allows women in the military to show how powerful a women can be and lso show the world its not all roses and cupcakes.. the military life is what u make of it.. and its not so much that we are not wanted in the frontlines there’s a reason for it.. the men do that because of the ego and its just a mans job to protect and also they’re physically made for that also because of what could be done to a female if they’re taken as a POW (prisoner of war) the abuse is endless and america along w. Other countries will look down on what we do and our armed forces.. each branch of the military has there mission marines just clean up the mess w. A lil style.. females want equality so its said.. so how about we act like it and stop punking out like some prissy girl to get it u gotta earn it and that’s life male or female.. I love the corps and I will soon begin my training for the lioness program and give to my ppl family and motherland what its given me and if it takes my life like our cadence.. if I die in a combat zone.. box me up and take me home.. tell my mama I did my best
I am a female marine and I want to get involved in the program really bad. But how do I go about doing it? I talked to my chain and they know I want to go. But what else an I do?
i think this program is great women have showed that they can fight as good as men some even better than men…theres just one thing i dont understand they say we are not allowed in the front lines because we distract the men and a man would go through much more trouble to save a woman than a man…i mean were all the same and were all fighting for the same reason….its not our problem that they feel that way they should not blame women for the way men act around them during combat…but other than that this program is really great and i hope to one day join it…
Having been in Iraq and Afghanistan and having been injured I do not think the myth of males being distracted by a female is there as far as battle goes. When I was injured in helicopter accident I did not get any special attention or consideration from the men other than good medical care. That did not seem to distract them any more than it would have if a male had been injured. I think that is a myth that should be discarded in our minds. However, if you go over there as a female and try to mess around with the guys or use your female status to get attention, then it could be a distraction. Be professional, don’t mess around with the guys sexually, and it is not a distraction.
sarah….noone is blaming women for anything. The simple fact is that men are programmed and naturally feel the way they do about women. It sounds like you are blaming men for how they naturally feel. The goal is to win the war. If keeping women separate from men in infantry units is going to help us reach this goal than that is what needs to be done
I’m a sophomore in high school and I’ve been looking into joining the Marine Corps. I will, of course, have to start training for the physical part of the Corps, the Lioness Program sounds like something I would do, and be good at doing.
The lioness program is a great idea. It can help tremendously to have female marines that interact with females in Afghanistan and Iraq. They can get a lot of intelligence and not be responsible for females being stoned to death for talking to them (like with their male counterparts).
It is a myth that male marines are going to be distracted simply by the prescence of female marines. My daughter is an officer in the Corps and has trained along side males since the day she joined. She has gone through a lot more intensive training than I did as a young Marine in the 60’s. I can honestly say that both she and her comrades from OCS and TBS consider themselves Marines first, not male or female marines. I am sure that they will all “have each others back” because they share the bond of being Marines, not because they are male or female.
The lioness program will give females an opportunity to demonstrate how well they can perform in the field in tough situations.
Semper FI
These Marines follow in honored warrior traditions of many women all over the world in all times of history. Queen Boadecea of the Iceni rallied tribes from Scotland to Wales and Kent and nearly drove the Roman Legion out of Britain in the 6th century. Sybil Luddington rode through a British Regiment to warn American Revolutionaries of a coming attack. Eleanor of Aquitaine rode to the Crusades and back. Ceasar writes in his Gallic Wars that he’s rather fight the men than the women, and decsribes a flying kick fighting style that exclusive to the women, which could unseat a man on horseback. Then they’d dispatch him with disembowelment – also a female specialty.
Women *not* being warriors is the historical *exception* – *not* the rule.
Now if could please just get proper ergonomic equipment, and have specialized training that let’s us develop our best combat strengths: hand-eye coordination(we make great snipers); lower body strength and low centers of gravity (we can pull more Gs before we pass out) ; lower blood pressure and higher pain tolerances (our brains make more endorphins for pain control and we don’t bleed out as fast); great pattern-recognition skills.
I’m so proud of my sisters-at-arms !
Semper Fi Ladies.
Semper Fi.
Kathleen O’Brien Blair
McMinnville, OR
USMCR Parris Island 1980
I am trying to figure out what i want to do in the Military many people tell me to join the navy and become a corpman because i want to become a nurse someday , how ever it just feels like my heart lies with the marine corp. so a recruiter told me to check out the lioness program and i cant find to much info on it , so if any one has any info on more of what the job requires and what other jobs in the corp there are for females i will greatly appreciate it. Want to earn the right to say OORAH!l
I’m a female. Leaving for Parris Island, SC
in July, I think the Lioness Program is great and I’ve done a lot of research. And I’m very interestd in it. @mike … Maybe I don’t want to fight along side men anyway. Maybe thats the only way we’ll ever get the job done… Like you said the goal is to win the war.. right now that goal ain’t really working is it?…
Semper Fi
I have to say, its awesome that the Lioness Program is becoming bigger and more known. I was in the program in 2007 while I was in Iraq. I ABSOLUTLY loved it! Looking at these photos and reminissing really makes me want to go back. I got out as a CPL about 2 years ago. I couldn’t wait to be done, and now that its all over, I wanna go back! Just want to tell all the Lionesses to keep doing great! OOH RAH SEMPER FI!!!
I am an infantry marine and i think this program is great. However combat and combat situations are completely different things. The lioness program is not the infantry and that is how it should stay. Women are not allowed in the infantry because America is not ready to see their daughters and mothers come home in body bags. Men act different around women in combat. It is not anyones fault it is a natural response. I am not against women in the infantry, but they should meet equal requirements if they want to be in the infantry.
One huge question:
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
(Besides becoming a Marine; What do I do after I join?)
I agree with Trevor even though I am not a male. I am a female reserve soldier and firefighter civilian. It is a natural instinct for a man to “protect” a female. Even though a woman can do the job well and are great shots, a man’s natural instinct kicks in and he will protect her. In today’s military, yes, women can expect to be in a combat situation. As a firefighter, I do my job well but a man will always want to protect me. It’s horrible when a man loses a buddy in combat let alone if it were a woman. He feels responsible, like it should have been him to die or he should have protected her better. I appreciate that and I dont take it personally when a man does that. If a man wants to hold the door for me or carry my bags or equipment, cool. The lioness program is not infantry as Trevor stated but it is a great program that is doing a lot of good in the middle east.
I am going to be in a debate soon arguing the affermative of weather or not females should be allowed to fight in combat. I plan on using the Lioness Program as one of my points. I found out that the lionesses also train Iraqi women to be a sort of lioness, but i cant seem to find out the statistics on HOW MANY are auctually involved. Does anyone know a vauge number or percentage? I would be much obliged.
I am a sophomore in high school & i want to join the Marine Corps once i get out. But what do i do to get started in the Lioness program (besides becoming a marine)