For the first time ever, a female Marine has graduated the grueling Basic Reconnaissance course
The news was first reported by Marine Corps Times.
According to a BRC course description, the grueling training schedule helps students learn basic reconnaissance skills such as amphibious entry, extraction, patrolling, land navigation, and weapons. A separate document for prospective attendees notes that Marines and sailors at the course “will perform physical tasks involving obstacles, swimming while wearing utilities with boots, open-ocean swimming with fins in full combat equipment, and travelling long distances cross country while carrying a rucksack weighing as much as 85 pounds.”
“Total body strength and physical endurance is mission critical to ensure success at BRC,” the recon policy document adds.
Historically, roughly 25 to 40 percent of Marines are unable to complete the course, said Maj. Joshua Benson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Benson added that in addition to being the first female graduate of BRC, she was also the first ever to apply and attempt it.
No other female Marines besides Barth are in recon training, Benson said.
Barth has additional training ahead before she joins her unit, Motz said, which is slated to be California-based 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. That could happen sometime in late spring of 2020, given she meets all training requirements.
Reconnaissance Marines are a commander’s “eyes and ears on the battlefield,” the policy document says, adding that they are organized into highly-trained six person teams that often carry out missions behind enemy lines.
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