Female Marines to sleep next to male Marines in field

A Marine Corps official says female infantry Marines will be sleeping in makeshift shelters next to their male counterparts when out in the field and no special accommodation will be offered to them.

Maj. Charles Anklam III said Thursday that Marines in the field stay in everything from a large, single room shelter filled with dozens of cots to sleeping under tarps or nothing at all. Anklam is executive officer for 1st Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina — the first gender-integrated Marine infantry battalion.

Anklam says female Marines have private rooms and bathrooms in their living quarters, but will be expected to sleep wherever their male squad members do in the field to keep unit cohesion.

The battalion accepted its first three females in early January.