She got bounced June 30 after a command investigation accused her of “toxic leadership” by berating and showing contempt for subordinates in public. The 300-page report found her to be “hostile, unprofessional and abusive “ and told recruits that sexual assault was preventable, and that those who drank put themselves in a position to be assaulted.
If correct, this is bad leadership as regards the treatment of subordinates in public. ("Praise in public. reprimand in private" has been the expectation since shortly after Waterloo.)
As regards the vulnerability of potential victims being higher when under the influence, I see no problem except that nowadays it seems most folks cannot accept hearing the truth because it hurts their precious little feelings. (But you want to talk about misogyny and gender bias? Where's all the concern over young male Marines being plied with liquor by predatory women who then take sexual advantage of them, then assault them?)
But officers who served with her say she was a blunt reformer who spearheaded efforts to improve recruit training regardless of gender, and that a vocal minority in the battalion undercut her achievements. Germano's tactics, for example, dramatically improved range qualification rates for female recruits.
The ensuing controversy, some say, provides a glimpse into an ongoing struggle to establish equal standards for male and female Marines at the Corps' East Coast recruit depot.
Last time I looked, the recruiting posters/TV ads still say "The Marine Corps Builds Men". As PC as it would be to even recall it, let alone say it today, back in the Old Corps (anybody that graduated from boot camp before you did) we used to look at the WMs on parade and agree wholeheartedly with that claim. It was possible that someone even suggested that the female soldiers of the Russian Army during The Great Patriotic War were better looking and not as musclebound.
I was told that the physical fitness and marksman ship standards were considered the minimum that would allow you to stay on the battlefield - that place where Marines are supposed to be if ever let out of their cages. I am not sure but my guess is that there are no women's tees or light duty passes for cramps in combat mentioned in either the Hague or Geneva Conventions.
I'm pretty sure my position is not misogyny since it comes from the experience of a stateside butterball who was supposed to be as REMF as one could be and still be in a combat zone who suddenly found himself needing to find big boy pants to wear while taking strolls in the countryside and chatting with strangers well met along the way.
stay safe.
