Didnt the first class with women at the Point result in them ending the traditional 20 ? Mile march with full packs and gear because not one female could finish it?
I’m not exactly sure what you are referring to. You may be referring to when the Plebes march back from Lake Frederick to the barracks, after they complete summer training. I think that was about 18 miles.
They followed the group with trucks, and people who fell out got in the truck. Even though 10% of the group was women, they were the majority in the trucks.
I was the tallest in my squad, meaning I marched in the very back. And the shortest was a woman, who was at the front. Over the course of the road march, she started to fall back. The cadre would tell the guy behind her to push her and not let her fall back...but she eventually worked her way through 12 people and was directly in front of me. And I absolutely was not allowed to let her get behind me. So I ended up taking her M-14 (now carrying two including my own), and physically pushing her up a large hill. She still couldn’t take it, so somebody else took her pack (now carrying two). And we both pushed her up the hill.
This was a big hill, and when we got to the top, we all took a break for water. The cadre (who had been nearly starving us for weeks) came to this woman and gave her some quick energy food to prepare her for the walk down. I kept the rifle, the other guy kept the pack, and eventually we made it.
I have very specific memory of this road march, btw. It was blazing hot, we were filthy after a week in the field, half starved, the cadre were constantly yelling at us...but it was a benchmark event, as it meant we had completed summer training. As we entered the main post area, we went up Thayer Road, which is lined on one side by officer housing. The officer wives were so horrified at what we looked like, they started hosing us down with garden hoses as we passed by - just to cool us off. It was great.