Women Straight Shooters, Marines Find
WASHINGTON — To its surprise and elation, the Marine Corps is finding, for the most part, that its female recruits make up a gang that shoots straight.
Based on the initial results of a new program to teach female recruits how to handle a rifle, the women are matching, and sometimes exceeding, the sharpshooting record of their male counterparts.
That conclusion is based on the results of tests tabulated at the Parris Island, S.C., boot camp.
Maj. Don Kappel, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon, said Tuesday that 97.8% of the 372 female recruits who have completed training at Parris Island since the new program began qualified as “marksmen,” “sharpshooters” or “experts.”
By comparison, male recruits during the same period have been qualifying at rates ranging from 96.6% to 99.5%.
Moreover, a female private who was graduated last month has established a new range record for recruits at Parris Island.
Pvt. Anita Lobo, an 18-year-old from Uvalde, Tex., scored 246 out of a possible 250 on the rifle range, earning the highest designation, “expert.”
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