The reporting on this incident is making the Marine Corps training for females look pretty bad. On June 30, 2015, LtCol Kate Germano, an eighteen year veteran of the USMC, was relieved of her command at 4^th Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. Reasons cited for her firing were that she created a toxic environment where she bullied her subordinates and created a climate where females would be afraid to report incidents of sexual assault. The findings supporting her firing, with lots of redactions, can be found here. The witness statements are heavily weighted against Germano, but the few statements in her favor are extremely positive.

Fourth Battalion is the exclusive location in the U.S. where all female enlistees go for Marine Corps recruit training. LtCol Germano had been the battalion commander for only one year, taking command last June 2014. In that time she reportedly implemented new approaches to physical and marksmanship training that showed impressive results (she raised rifle qualification from 79% to 95% – comparable to the male qualification scores). She also apparently told the women in her command that getting drunk would contribute to them becoming victims of sexual assault and that if the females weren’t able to meet the same standards as men then men wouldn’t respect them as leaders. Sometimes the truth hurts.