The Female Officer Behind A Daring Combat Training Op-Ed Is Headed To Afghanistan
In an op-ed published Mar. 28 in The Washington Post, 2nd Lt. Sage Santangelo, one of 14 women who volunteered to try out for the Quantico, Va.-based course, wrote that double standards between women and men prior to the course sets women up for failure. She also wrote of the problematic rule that allows men who fail to try again, while women have only one shot.
In response to a question posed on Tuesday at an Atlantic Council forum, Commandant Gen. James Amos said he had ordered a change to the rules Santangelo had cited and offered the lieutenant a chance to serve in Afghanistan while she awaits flight school - a wait that could last up to a year before a slot opens.
"I got an answer back in about 14 nanoseconds … So we're cutting orders right now," Amos said, according to Otto Kreisher at Seapower Magazine. "Sage is going to go to Afghanistan, to join the Marine Expeditionary Brigade Forward over there."
Noting that the commandant "lavished praise" on both Santangelo and all female Marines, Kreisher reported Amos said, "when she brought up the point about the inability to recycle … I went back to my folks and said, 'we got to fix this.' So we are."
The lieutenant has not yet deployed, but a spokesperson for the commandant's office confirmed she would be joining the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Forward) so she could "get some experience."