Comments on: Female Lioness Program Trains Marines

By: toni

toni — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:09:16 +0000

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.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:33:33 +0000

One huge question:
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
(Besides becoming a Marine; What do I do after I join?)

By: Trevor

Trevor — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:23:22 +0000

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.

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:20:03 +0000

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!!!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:04:32 +0000

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

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:57:35 +0000

I’m a female. Leaving for Parris Island, SC

By: sarah

sarah — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:50:23 +0000

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

By: Kathleen O'Brien Blair

Kathleen O'Brien Blair — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 20:02:13 +0000

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

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:53:17 +0000

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

By: Jericha

Jericha — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:04:56 +0000

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.