Marine Corps lowers standards on test so women can pass

With no notice and little formal explanation, the Marine Corps altered one of its notoriously grueling rites of passage late last year, changing the combat endurance test on the first day of its Infantry Officer Course from a pass/fail requirement to an unscored exercise.

Officials with Marine Corps Training and Education Command confirmed to Military.com on Friday that Commandant Gen. Robert Neller had made a decision in November to transform the test from a high-stakes hurdle to an assessment from which students can drop without risking their place in the course.

While officials said the test has had a historically low attrition rate since it was made a passing requirement in 2012, the change stands to have significant implications for women attempting the course. Of the more than 30 female officers who have attempted IOC, most have dropped during the combat endurance test on the first day.

Last September, a female second lieutenant made history when she became the first woman to pass the course and receive the 0302 military occupational specialty. The officer, who has not been publicly identified, passed the entirety of the course, including the CET, an official told Military.com.

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