Four Women Complete Marine Infantry Training

Four female Marines have become the first women in history to complete the Corps' infantry training.

Business Insider reports that the Pfc. Harlee "Rambo" Bradford and three other women all passed the infantry course, considered among the toughest training in the U.S. military. The women, part of an initial class of 15 volunteers, are participating in a Marine Corp study to test the opening of the male-only infantry to female Marines.

Bradford will graduate with a later class, as she must await the healing of a stress fracture before completing the final physical fitness test of the training. None of the women is headed into infantry, however – because they are part of a study, they will all return to non-combat specialties for now.

Infantry training is notoriously strenuous, with one of the toughest tasks being a 12.5 mile (20 kilometer) hike through the woods conducted at a near-jogging pace of 4 miles per hour (6 km/hr) while carrying about 90 lbs (40 kilograms) of gear.

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