ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

MILITARY NEWS

Integrated platoons

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.

For the first time in its history, the Marine Corps is integrating female and male platoons during boot camp, according to ABC News. Unlike the other branches of the service, the Marine Corps has not fully integrated women and men during recruit training.

On Jan. 5, however, the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island started its training cycle with one female platoon and five male platoons. While the change is not permanent, a Marine Corps spokesman said, “We will look at how the company performs in this model as we continually evaluate how we make Marines.”

The Marine Corps, which has the lowest percentage of women among the services at just under 9 percent, decided to incorporate the 50 female recruits into the historically all-male battalion because the recruiting classes are typically much smaller in the winter months. The integration allowed Parris Island to not activate a 4th Recruit Training Battalion staff for a single female platoon.

The female recruits will be led by female drill instructors, but will live in barracks with their male counterparts.

DEPLOYED

Youngstown

Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Krista Rosensteel, of Youngs-town, is serving aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24). Arlington is making a scheduled deployment as part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group in support of maritime security operations, crisis response and theater security cooperation, while also providing a forward naval presence.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Airman 1st Class Colin Chapman, a 2009 graduate of Farrell High School, Farrell, Pa., is the son of Elizabeth and William Chapman of Farrell; and husband of Michelle Chapman of Philadelphia; Reserve Airman 1st Class Matthew A. Rankin, a 2015 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, is the son of William J. Rankin of Girard and Holly A. Higginbottham of Austintown, and the stepson of Benjamin Higginbottham of Austintown and Michelle Lightner of Girard.

Army: Pvt. Allan Mykaabya is a 2017 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School and the son of Sonya McKaabya of Youngstown.

Items of note for the Armed Forces Digest can be emailed to staff writer William K. Alcorn at alcorn@vindy.com