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Marine Corps to remove 'man' from 19 job titles

By Allen Cone
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Bob J. Sise talks with Afghan children during Operation Northern Lion II in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on July 3, 2013. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to change several job titles with the word "man" in them. However, terms such as "rifleman" and "mortarman" won't change. File photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena/DOD/UPI
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Bob J. Sise talks with Afghan children during Operation Northern Lion II in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on July 3, 2013. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to change several job titles with the word "man" in them. However, terms such as "rifleman" and "mortarman" won't change. File photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena/DOD/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- 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.

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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."

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The new names are as follows, from the Washington Post:

Basic infantry Marine, riverine assault craft Marine, light-armor vehicle Marine, reconnaissance Marine (to include three other recon-related jobs that include the word "man"), infantry assault Marine, antitank missile gunner, basic field artillery Marine, field artillery fire control Marine, field artillery sensor support Marine, field artillery operations chief, fire support Marine, basic engineer, construction and equipment Marine, basic tank and assault amphibious vehicle Marine, armor marine, amphibious assault vehicle Marine, amphibious combat vehicle Marine.

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