U.S. Marine Corps will soon get first female Infantry Officer

The U.S. Marine Corps is expected to assign its first female infantry officer next week, the service said in a statement Thursday.

The female officer, whose name is not revealed, is expected to break the major gender barrier and graduate along with her male counterparts on Monday after completing a 13-week training program called the Infantry Officer Course, widely seen as one of the toughest trainings in the U.S. military.

A Washington Post report said 32 women tried and failed as of the spring of 2015 to complete the grueling combat course, which was opened to women on a research basis in 2012.

Another four women, including the officer expected to graduate first, have attempted to complete the course since 2015, according to the Post.

The news comes almost two years after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter lifted the U.S. military's last remaining restrictions for women, part of an effort by the Obama administration to make the armed forces fully inclusive.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)