Published 2018 by Prometheus Books
Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained. Copyright © 2018 by Kate Germano. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Prometheus Books recognizes all registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks mentioned in the text.
The internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the author(s) or by Prometheus Books, and Prometheus Books does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
All emails, letters, and other related correspondence between military personnel quoted or paraphrased in this book are accessible through the Freedom of Information Act and therefore are in the public domain. To access these correspondences, see https://www.foia.gov/.
Except when quoted from a document or email, all references to conversations are based upon Kate Germano's recollection and to the best of her knowledge are accurate and complete.
Cover image © PJF Military Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
Cover design by Jacqueline Nasso Cooke
Cover design © Prometheus Books
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Germano, Kate, 1973- author. | Kennedy, Kelly, 1970- author.
Title: Fight like a girl : the truth behind how female Marines are trained / by Kate Germano; with Kelly Kennedy.
Other titles: Truth behind how female Marines are trained
Description: Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, [2018] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017049748 (print) | LCCN 2017050749 (ebook) | ISBN 9781633884144 (ebook) | ISBN 9781633884137 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Germano, Kate, 1973- | United States. Marine Corps—Women—Training of. | United States. Marine Corps. Marine Regiment, 11th. Battalion, 4th—Biography. | United States. Marine Corps—Women—Social conditions. | United States. Marine Corps—Officers—Biography. | Women marines—United States—Training of. | Women and the military—United States. | Sexism—United States.
Classification: LCC VE23 (ebook) | LCC VE23 .G47 2018 (print) | DDC 359.9/6092 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017049748
Printed in the United States of America
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Tears and Cupcakes
Chapter 2: The Firing Squad
Chapter 3: Not Smart Enough to Be a Sailor
Chapter 4: Data Geek
Chapter 5: The Rest of the Story
Chapter 6: Esprit de Cult
Chapter 7: Fourth Dimension
Chapter 8: Iron Ladies
Chapter 9: Great Expectations
Chapter 10: Separate but not Equal
Chapter 11: Corsets Kill Careers
Chapter 12: Moving Targets
Chapter 13: Pizza Boxes
Chapter 14: Preaching Integration
Chapter 15: Shoot Like a Girl
Chapter 16: Train Like a Girl
Chapter 17: Mean Girls and Mobbing
Chapter 18: When There's No One Left to Blame
Chapter 19: Fisticuffs
Chapter 20: While the Cat Is Away
Chapter 21: Thumpin’ Third
Chapter 22: Good News Travels Fast
Chapter 23: Like a (Bad) Boss
Chapter 24: Climate Change
Chapter 25: The Rapist Is Always Wrong
Chapter 26: Worst of the Worst
Chapter 27: General Relativity
by Joe Plenzler
Chapter 28: Kill the Messenger
Chapter 29: Leaked Like a Sieve
by Joe Plenzler
Chapter 30: Command Performance
Chapter 31: Equal Opportunist
Chapter 32: Fifth Dimension: A Lifetime of Devotion
Marine-Speak 101: Glossary and Rank Structure
Notes
When you experience a terrible event in life, you must make a conscious daily decision to be grateful or face drowning in a shame and self-doubt. You can choose to be bitter, or relearn how to be happy and self-assured by taking stock in the people to whom you are most indebted. I would be remiss if I did not publicly thank those people who held my hand and walked with me during my darkest days, including Joe, Popster, Kathy, and the rest of our family, and our dearest friends Chris Lorence, Brian Emerson, and Lynn Lowder. I would also like to sincerely thank Kelly Kennedy, who served as my confidant, counselor, cheerleader, and coach throughout this process—I am indebted to her for her belief in me as a good human being and Marine.
Much gratitude goes out to all of the service men and women, veterans, colleagues, friends, and strangers who offered their support every step of the way. I'd also like to thank John Silbersack, of the Trident Media Group, for believing in me, and the many great folks at Prometheus Books, including Jade Zora Scibilia, for their hard work and impeccable judgment in fine-tuning my story.
Finally, many thanks to the members of the media who dug into the story of my relief to provide a more balanced view of who I am and what I was trying to achieve for the Marine Corps. Your work was invaluable in shedding much-needed light on the challenges faced by women in segregated boot camp and the significant work that remains to be done to end gender bias and truly level the playing field for Marine women.
Continue to shine a light.
Good Morning Ma'am,
I just had to email you and let you know that it still shocks me to hear/read that you are no longer at Parris Island. I may not know the details of the situation and I've only read what Marine Corps Times has posted. When you stepped on deck at Parris Island, you hit the ground running with high expectations, and, with a lot of hard work, the results started to show. I'm at a loss for words, having worked for you. It pushed me to develop my Marines and my recruits beyond their limits—to understand that the bare minimum is not acceptable. In my opinion, the battalion was finally headed the right way, and with you being gone, I'm afraid that it will go back to the way it was when I first got there: complete chaos.
