Marine Corps to remove 'man' from 19 job titles

United Press International

Oh, man, times are changing in the Marines.  The Marine Corps plans to rename 19 of its military occupation titles to make them more gender-neutral after several jobs were opened to women this year.  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered a review of the job descriptions.

The Marine Corps hasn’t officially announced the changes, which were first reported by the Marine Corps Times on Monday.  In all, 33 titles were reviewed. Terms such as “rifleman” and “mortarman” won’t be changed, according to the Marines Corps Times.  “Names that were not changed, like rifleman, are steeped in Marine Corps history and ethos,” an unidentified official told the publication. “Things that were changed needed to be updated to align with other MOS names.”

The word “man” was removed from 15 of the titles and replaced with “Marine.” Other changes are variations. “Antitank missleman” has been renamed “antitank gunner” and “field artillery operations man” is now “field artillery operations chief.”  “On one hand, the name changes from ‘man’ to ‘person’ or whatever they want to call it doesn’t really matter. They could call mortarmen bakers for all I care,” Sgt. Geoff Heath, a Marine rifleman with multiple combat deployments, told the Washington Post. “But on the other, it’s a direct reflection on society’s crybaby political correctness.”.....To Read More.....