(John Wollwerth/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) - Brig. General. Loretta E. Reynolds, 46, is the first female Marine commander of the Corps' iconic training ground for recruits at Parris Island, S.C. She took command in June.
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. — There’s a new commander on this sandy, swampy spit of land that has transformed rawboned recruits into macho Marines for nearly a century. Brig. Gen. L.E. Reynolds, a 6-foot-tall Baltimore native and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is the latest in a long line of no-nonsense leaders to take charge here.
But she’s the first woman.
And for the tradition-bound Marine Corps, which endlessly promotes a tough-guy image and built its recruiting on the search for “a few good men,” the idea of all those ruthless Parris Island drill instructors having to salute a leatherneck named Loretta could take some getting used to.
“I am sure that some Marines, especially those who served many years ago, were disconcerted that a female Marine general would take over Parris Island,” said Maj. Jim Franks, who served under Reynolds as her executive officer when they were deployed to Afghanistan. “But if they had the opportunity to meet her, they would quickly see that she’s eminently qualified to do that job. . . . Take the female part out of it. She’s an outstanding officer.”
The granddaughter of a Marine and daughter of a steelworker, Reynolds, 46, lacks the high-and-tight buzz cut that is a Corps trademark but otherwise comes across as a typical Marine commander: confident and blunt.
“I am not here by mistake, because it was time to put a girl here,” she told local reporters after she arrived in June. “I was the right person for the job.”
Reynolds’s command of what is considered hallowed ground for Marines is the latest example of how the remaining job barriers for women in the military are gradually falling by the wayside.
Last year, the Navy announced that it will permit women to serve on submarines for the first time. Last month, the head of the military’s Special Operations Command said he favors allowing women to join the elite Navy SEALs, the epitome of highly trained warriors.
In March, a congressional commission recommended that a long-standing ban on women serving in ground-combat units be overturned as part of a broader effort to bring greater diversity to the armed forces, particularly in the officer ranks.
Separately, Congress has directed the Pentagon to review its 1994 policy that prohibits women from serving in units whose primary mission is “direct” ground combat, such as artillery, infantry and tank companies. The Defense Department was originally scheduled to respond with a report in April but has pushed back the delivery date to October.
Part of the reason for the delay is that the military is simultaneously girding for another big social change: the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prevents gay troops from serving openly. That ban will lapse on Sept. 20.
The restrictions on women in combat units will take longer to fade, but some defense officials say it is just a matter of time, despite continued resistance in some corners of Congress and the military. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in March found that more than seven in 10 Americans support allowing women to engage in direct combat.
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