Navy secretary wants Marine infantry open to women

Meghann Myers | Marine Corps Times

Marine infantry and special operations specialties will soon open to women, if the head of the Secretary of the Navy gets his way.

As deadlines loom on decisions about whether to allow women into front-line combat jobs, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called for opening all billets to female troops who can meet the rigorous standards.

Marine officials will soon offer their recommendations, but Mabus, the civilian secretary who leads the Navy Department — including the Marine Corps — made clear that he must sign off on the decision to seek any exemptions to opening all jobs to women, and he hasn't had a change of heart.

"That's still my call, and I've been very public," Mabus said in an exclusive interview Tuesday. "I do not see a reason for an exemption."

Mabus said both sea services should keep physical standards unchanged.

His call for opening all military occupational specialties to women follows Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert's assertion in late August that the Navy would not seek an exemption for its legendary SEAL teams.

All of the services have until Oct. 1 to submit their exemption requests to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and the Marine Corps has not indicated whether it intends to do so. Mabus, however, signaled that his mind was largely made up.

"My understanding of how the process works is that I'm the one that asks (the Defense Department) for the exemption," he said. "Now, other voices will be heard, the way (former Defense Secretary Leon) Panetta lined it up — I think, the way I read it — is that if the (Navy) Department doesn't ask for an exemption, they will open."

While Mabus will have the last say for the Marine Corps' own billets, U.S. Special Operations Command must also sign off on the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command troops it oversees, as with the Navy SEALs. If SOCOM does not seek an exemption, MARSOC and SEAL teams will open to women on Jan. 1, along with any other jobs still closed to women.

Marine brass have stayed tight-lipped about whether they'll seek gender exclusions. In a July hearing for his confirmation as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford did not let on whether a decision was in-hand.

Dunford is on track to send his recommendations to Mabus in the next few weeks, his spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Dent told Marine Corps Times in late August.