Contemporary Authors

• Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained Prometheus (New York, NY), 2018

1. Fight like a girl : the truth behind how female Marines are trained LCCN 2017049748 Type of material Book Personal name Germano, Kate, 1973- author. Main title Fight like a girl : the truth behind how female Marines are trained / Kate Germano ; with Kelly Kennedy. Published/Produced Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2018. Description 304 pages ; 23 cm ISBN 9781633884137 (pbk.) CALL NUMBER VE23 .G47 2018 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• NPR - https://www.npr.org/2018/03/31/598236785/ousted-marine-commander-aims-to-fight-like-a-girl-against-gender-bias-in-marines

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  Ousted Marine Commander Aims To 'Fight Like A Girl' Against Gender Bias In Marines
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  March 31, 20186:28 PM ET
  Heard on All Things Considered
  SYDNEY HARPER

  To former Lt. Col. Kate Germano, achieving success can be as simple as setting higher standards.

  In her new book titled, Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained, the former Marine and co-author Kelly Kennedy, share her story of fighting to raise the bar for training female recruits in the Marine Corps.

  Former Marine Corps Lt. Col. Kate Germano worked to hold female recruits to tougher standards. Then, she says, she was fired for it.
  Courtesy of Ars Nova Images
  The military branch has one of the lowest rates of women serving, and it's the only remaining branch to separate women from men during training. Germano says the Marine Corps' opposition to her push to hold both genders to the same standards is the reason she was removed from her post.

  'An Atmosphere Of Neglect'

  In June of 2014, Germano assumed the role of lieutenant colonel, charged with leading and training the all-female 4th Battalion at Parris Island, the Marine Corps boot camp in South Carolina. When she arrived, she says she observed an environment that didn't encourage success from the female recruits.

  "They had been isolated by both time and space on Parris Island," she tells NPR's Michel Martin. "The compound where the Marines were trained was so separate from anywhere else on the base that it had created this sort of lax leadership from the senior men at the depot." The lack of support from the upper ranks signaled to her a deeper disregard for the preparation of the branch's female recruits.

  "We had staff shortages that were affecting stress levels, that were affecting recruits being abused," she says. "There was overall an atmosphere of neglect."

  Fight Like a Girl
  Fight Like a Girl
  The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained

  by Kate Germano and Kelly Kennedy

  Paperback, 304 pages purchase

  That atmosphere, Germano says, and issues of women not receiving the same respect as the male recruits, resulted in a discrepancy between performance on basic qualifications between the women and their male counterparts.When Germano arrived, the female recruits were drastically underperforming the men in areas like injury rates, fitness evaluations, and rifle performance.

  "I can tell you that for decades women had underperformed because there were lower expectations for what they could achieve," Germano says.

  To her, the plan was simple: expect better results, see better results. Over her year at Parris Island, Germano worked to shape the female recruits into the Marines she felt like they could easily become. "We just put a plan together to have discipline and hold them to higher standards and to make sure that at every opportunity we were training and coaching rather than simply screaming at recruits for 13 straight weeks," she says.

  Facing Resistance

  In late June of 2015, however, Germano found herself at the end of a tumultuous year. Climate surveys conducted among the recruits in her battalion labeled her leadership style as mean, abrasive and too demanding. Coupled with multiple clashes with her boss on how things should change, Germano faced a difficult time in her position at Parris Island.

  "If you look at history ... the Marine Corps has always been the service that is the most resistant to change," she says. According to Germano, that resistance led to her firing that June.

  At the time of her dismissal, the Marines were undergoing an experiment to look at expanding gender-integrated service roles, including ground combat jobs and units. Germano says she was ousted because her recruits were succeeding — and taking the air out of a belief by some in the Marine Corps that women would ultimately be unable to compare to the men. "Our results on Parris Island, what we were proving on the rifle range, what we were proving in physical fitness, directly conflicted with that narrative," she says.

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  Marine Corps Study: All-Male Combat Units Performed Better Than Mixed Units
  THE TWO-WAY
  Marine Corps Study: All-Male Combat Units Performed Better Than Mixed Units
  Kelly Kennedy, an Army veteran and longtime military journalist, co-authored the book with Germano to help tell the story of the troublesome climate for women at Parris Island that year. She says that this self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement is something she experienced herself — a problem that exemplifies how setting the bar low holds women back in both the military and other fields as well.

  "I don't believe it's Marines-specific or military-specific at all. Some of the things she said were things that had occurred in the Army when I was in it 20 years ago," Kennedy says. Although doubtful at first, Kennedy, too, acknowledged that maybe Germano's leadership style would push her to greater heights — just like the Marines training under Germano in the 4th Battalion at Parris Island.

  Advocating For Women

  Germano still works to advocate for women in the military. She spends her time testifying to Congress, writing op-eds about her experience and trying to voice the need for more women in leadership positions.

  To change how gender is viewed in the Marine Corps, she wants to make sure that service women are heard, and that those who hold the powerto elevate women are held accountable.

  "There needs to be pressure from people on the outside. People who can tell their congressmen and women why this is such an important issue," she says. "There also really needs to be a greater degree of scrutiny on why the percentage of women in the Marine Corps is so small because, at less than 9 percent of the force, women are never going to be able to rise to the positions of authority and power that we need to impact policy."

• Washingtonian - https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/03/27/kate-germano-fired-marines-fight-like-a-girl-book/

  HEALTH | NEWS
  Under Her Command, Performance of Female Recruits Soared. Then the Marines Fired Her.
  "The white, male, pale, stale guys—they’re the ones keeping us from evolving."
  WRITTEN BY KIM OLSEN | PUBLISHED ON MARCH 27, 2018
  Under Her Command, Performance of Female Recruits Soared. Then the Marines Fired Her.
  Kate Germano. Photo courtesy of Military Times.
  TWEET SHARE
  In 2015, Kate Germano became the first woman to be fired from the Marine Corps Fourth Recruit Training Battalion. Why? After one year, the 1,000 women under her command equaled their male counterparts in shooting qualifications, injuries and behavioral issues had decreased, and their quality of life had improved, reasons she maintains led to her firing.

  Her removal sparked controversy widely covered by the press, partly due to an article she penned before her firing, “When Did It Become an Insult to Train Like a Girl?” that was pulled from being published in the Marine Corps Gazette and later published in full in the New York Times. The article calls out what she saw as institutional patterns that ensured female recruits weren’t trained as tough as their male counterparts, leading them to lower performance and fewer opportunities.

  We talked to Germano, who lives in National Harbor, about her new book, Fight Like A Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained and what she considers systemic gender bias in the Marines (which remains the only branch to separate men from women during training), its particular resonance in light of the Me Too movement, and what she’d say to Trump.

  Why did you decide to write this book?
  The book came out of a call I got out of the blue after the New York Times piece on my firing ran. I never considered writing it until an agent called me. I thought about it and I decided I was going to partner with Kelly (Kennedy, co-author and veteran) and that we would use it as a way to not only talk about problems that women have in the military—and this was way ahead of the Me Too movement—because the root causes that we have with military and gender are the same across industries. Sometimes women are put in a box and left out of key conversations.

  What are those key conversations?
  How to develop male allies, because we can’t solve these problems on our own. And coming up with solutions. Having military women at the table—for lack of a better term—really will help people understand that the root causes are the same. When you have a power structure—because our numbers are so small in key positions—we lack the authority to change organizations.

  You mention the Me Too movement early on in the book. Do you feel that this movement has changed how the book will be received?
  My hope is that it reaches a wider audience. We’re trying to bridge the gap between the civilian sector and the military sector. What I recognized right up front, Kelly and I had to work with writing so that people with no military experience would understand. What I find is, for whatever reason, people are really deferential to the military, and sometimes that’s not healthy. So I think the folks in the publishing world didn’t want to offend me or Kelly. There was this “off” feeling that we were dancing around stuff.

  How so?
  You always hear people say “thank you for your service.” The reality is we don’t want to be thanked for our service. And in fact, some of us shouldn’t be thanked. We volunteer for our jobs. We don’t deserve kudos just because we signed up. It really devalues the legitimate valor of our actual heroes.

  Do you feel that it’s different because you’re female?
  This is a problem many military women face. We join the military because we want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Then we stick out like sore thumbs. Because there’s so few of us, we don’t feel like part of the group. Then we go from sticking out because there’s so few us to blending in with the regular world after we leave the military. We’re invisible. It’s contributing to mental health issues. I want to highlight that the women veteran suicide rate is growing exponentially. It’s because of that invisibility facet.

  Photo by Joe LeBlanc/Ars Nova Images.
  So, how does a civilian walk the fine line between not thanking you but also noticing you?
  We all have hidden inner biases that we don’t even know exist because of how we’re brought up. I think just taking one second to pause, and if you see one woman applying to a program or a job, just asking them if they served would blow their minds. If we ask men in those situations, “Hey, did you serve?” then we should be willing to ask women the very same question. It happens a lot when veterans go to get medical care, apply to college, apply for loans, apply for jobs.

  Can you speak to what it’s like serving under different administrations?
  Way back in the beginning of my career, Bill Clinton was president. Fast forward to the Obama administration, the perception of women has changed, the military is benefitting from diversity and inclusion. When Obama took office I think I was probably a major. I was in command of a recruiting station. I was playing a part in making the military stronger. So it was pretty amazing to be in the military at that time. I felt like all these doors were opening

  Every day, I fear that the President is going to come out and with a tweet that says he doesn’t want women serving in the infantry. And that would set the military back decades. A couple days ago we woke up to a tweet saying that he wants to ban transgender people from the military. You know, thirty percent of the population isn’t qualified to serve because of mental, physical, or legal issues. When you start slicing segments of the population out of that simply because of your own religious beliefs, what you’re doing is you’re putting the National Defense at risk because you’re taking away from the qualified pool of people. I mean why would you disqualify people who say they want to serve?

  What would you say to Trump if you met him?
  [Laughs.] Oh, my goodness. I need to take a pause and think about that. I would probably say to think about focusing on ensuring that we don’t go backwards when it comes to women serving in the military. We have come along way in the last three years, and we can’t afford to go back.

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  What do you say to a young woman who want to join the Marines today?
  That’s a tough one for me. I am immensely proud of serving as a Marine. I do not want this book to come out and be me getting back at them because I’m angry. This book is a way for me to show military leaders where the thinking needs to be.

  I would tell a woman that there’s a place for her. But to be honest, I’m not sure that the Marine Corps is the place for women. Talent goes where talent is appreciated. And right now, the Army is kicking the Marine Corps’ butt when it comes to working with women. The Army leadership from the very senior-most level down is saying, it’s not optional, it is good for the force. But the Marine Corps isn’t there yet. We’re the only branch of service that continues to segregate women in training. We’re the only branch of service that has one female who’s made it through the Infantry Officer Course. We’re the only branch of service that continues with the opinion that women are less strong than men, outside of biological issues. The sad thing is that ninety-nine percent of these issues stem from biases. The white, male, pale, stale guys—they’re the ones keeping us from evolving.

  Where do things stand now?
  The funny thing is, there’s nothing like having ideas that you then write about. In the last month, the assistant commandant has come out separate times and said they’re integrating male and female recruits in training events, in the classroom, in field exercises. That’s all stuff that I recommended. They’ve integrated men in leadership positions into the female recruit training battalion and women in leadership positions in the male recruit training battalions. All stuff that I talked about two years ago. They won’t give me credit, and it’s also being mansplained. But I’ll take it if it means change is coming.

  This is such an incredible time to be a woman. To know that we have the opportunity to shape the future—if we could get more women in a place where they’re implementing policies.

  This interview has been edited and condensed. Kate Germano will be at Politics and Prose at the Wharf on April 10.

• Kate Germano - https://www.kategermano.com/

  Called 'too tough for the Marine Corps', Kate Germano made headlines in Spring 2015 when she took a principled stand and confronted systemic problems of gender bias and lowered expectations for women in the Marine Corps. A 20-year career Marine and combat veteran, she fought back and became a national figure by speaking out against discrimination and advocating for higher expectations and standards for women in the military. Her writing has been published in national media outlets to include the New York Times, Washington Post, San Diego Union Tribune, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, and more. She has also been featured on NPR, CSPAN, and PBS Newshour.

  FLAG.jpg
  Fight Like A Girl: the truth behind how female Marines are trained is one woman's professional battle against systemic gender bias in the Marines and the lessons it holds for all of us.

  It's a little like that old David and Goliath story...

  The Marine Corps continues to be the only service where men and women train separately in boot camp or basic training. This segregation negatively affects interaction with male marines later on, and, lower expectations of female recruits are actively maintained and encouraged. But Lieutenant Colonel Kate Germano arrived at the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island--which exclusively trains female recruits--convinced that if she expected more of the women just coming into Corps, she could raise historically low standards for female performance and make women better Marines. And, after one year, shooting qualifications of the women under her command equaled those of men, injuries had decreased, and unit morale had noticeably improved...then the Marines fired her.

  This is the story of Germano's struggle to achieve equality of performance and opportunity for female Marines against an entrenched male-dominated status quo. It is also a universal tale of the effects of systemic gender bias. Germano charges that the men above her in the chain of command were too invested in perpetuating the subordinate role of women in the Corps to allow her to prove that the female Marine can be equal to her male counterpart. She notes that the Marine Corps' $35-million gender-integration study, which shows that all-male squads perform at a higher level than mixed male-female squads, flies in the face of the results she demonstrated with the all-female Fourth Battalion and raises questions about the Marine Corps' willingness to let women succeed.

  At a time when women are fighting sexism and systemic bias in many sectors of society, Germano's experience has wide-ranging implications and lessons--not just for the military but also for corporate America, the labor force, education, and government. Kate and Kelly Kennedy, Army veteran, and best selling author of of "They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq," are releasing Fight Like A Girl: The truth behind how female Marines are trained on April 3, 2018.

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kategermano/

  Kate Germano
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  Speaker and Advocate- Author of "Fight Like a Girl- The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained" out now!

  Collaboration and coaching? Check. Workforce process improvements through the development, application, and assessment of Key Performance Indicators? Check. Human resource initiatives that unleash the hidden talents of individual employees? Check.

  My passion is leveraging my 20+ years of experience using data, communication, and positive human interactions to change workforce culture, business practices, and structure to improve performance and increase net gains for individuals and organizations.

  Key credentials:
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  Want an authentic leader who can help your organization achieve unprecedented people and talent success? Contact me today.

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  Marine Corps equality needs to start in bootcamp: Unleashing the 51% | Kate Germano | TEDxTysons
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  CH Partners, LLC
  Consultant and Student, Georgetown University Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership
  Company NameCH Partners, LLC
  Dates EmployedDec 2017 – Present Employment Duration7 mos
  LocationWashington D.C. Metro Area
  MGAC
  Director of Talent Acquisition and Management
  Company NameMGAC
  Dates EmployedApr 2017 – Dec 2017 Employment Duration9 mos
  LocationWashington D.C.
  Service Women's Action Network (SWAN)
  Chief Operating Officer
  Company NameService Women's Action Network (SWAN)
  Dates EmployedApr 2016 – Mar 2017 Employment Duration1 yr
  LocationWashington D.C. Metro Area
  United States Marine Corps
  Presiding Officer, Naval Clemency and Parole Board
  Company NameUnited States Marine Corps
  Dates EmployedSep 2015 – Apr 2016 Employment Duration8 mos
  LocationWashington Navy Yard
  4th Recruit Training Battalion
  Commanding Officer
  Company Name4th Recruit Training Battalion
  Dates EmployedJun 2014 – Jun 2015 Employment Duration1 yr 1 mo
  LocationMarine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
  Media (2)This position has 2 media
  Marine Commander's Firing Stirs Debate on Integration of Women in Corps
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  The Real Barrier for Women Marines
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  Marine Corps Installations Command
  Assistant Chief of Staff, Manpower
  Company NameMarine Corps Installations Command
  Dates EmployedJun 2012 – May 2014 Employment Duration2 yrs
  LocationPentagon, Washington DC
  Department of the Navy
  Marine Aide de Camp to the Secretary of the Navy
  Company NameDepartment of the Navy
  Dates EmployedJun 2011 – Jun 2012 Employment Duration1 yr 1 mo
  Marine Corps Command and Staff College
  Student
  Company NameMarine Corps Command and Staff College
  Dates EmployedMay 2010 – May 2011 Employment Duration1 yr 1 mo
  LocationQuantico, Virginia
  Marine Corps Recruiting Command
  Commanding Officer, Recruiting Station San Diego
  Company NameMarine Corps Recruiting Command
  Dates EmployedJun 2007 – Jun 2010 Employment Duration3 yrs 1 mo
  LocationSan Diego, California
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  Georgetown University
  Georgetown University
  Marine Corps University
  Marine Corps University
  Degree NameMMS Field Of StudyThesis topic- the influence of corruption on failing states
  Dates attended or expected graduation 2010 – 2011

  Goucher College
  Goucher College
  Degree NameBachelor of Arts (B.A.) Field Of StudyHistory/Pre-Law
  Dates attended or expected graduation 1991 – 1996

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6/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
Germano, Kate: FIGHT LIKE A GIRL
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Germano, Kate FIGHT LIKE A GIRL Prometheus Books (Adult Nonfiction) $18.00 4, 3 ISBN: 978-1-
63388-413-7
A passionate account of a former Marine Corps officer's fight for equality and justice in a historically sexist
system.
When Lt. Col. Germano was hand-selected to take command of the 4th Recruit Training Battalion at Parris
Island, a group that trains only female recruits, she was well-aware of the challenges ahead. The Marine
Corps is the only service that still segregates men and women during basic training, and the biased strategy
is a breeding ground of issues. Implemented after an outdated, inaccurate study that showed mixed-gender
units performed worse than single-sex units, the training program holds women to lower standards and
maintains the damaging assumption that women are inherently mean and emotional. This strategy results in
poorer performances in female recruits as well as dangerous and destructive behavioral issues. When
Germano took command of 4th Battalion for what was supposed to be the swan song of her 20-year career,
she was determined to change things for the better and prove women could be just as effective as men. After
a year in charge, Germano's recruits had markedly improved performance and fewer behavioral issues and
injuries, and the overall quality of life at the training camp improved. Despite these achievements, the
author's high expectations and no-nonsense command style shook up the status quo and the many Marines
and leaders who wanted to protect it, and she was ultimately fired. Using her firsthand experience and
anecdotal evidence from her year in command, Germano concludes that it was sexism, prejudice, and an
overt opposition to women's success that ended her career. At times, the author is repetitive, and her prose
can feel clumsy and awkward. Still, she provides a unique, powerful story of sexism and gender bias that
will resonate with women across industries and experiences.
A no-holds-barred condemnation of discriminatory training policies within the Marines and of systemic
sexism facing women everywhere.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Germano, Kate: FIGHT LIKE A GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525461605/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ead7997a.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525461605
6/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Fight like a Girl: The Truth behind How
Female Marines Are Trained
Patricia Smith
Booklist.
114.14 (Mar. 15, 2018): p4.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Fight like a Girl: The Truth behind How Female Marines Are Trained.
By Kate Germano and Kelly Kennedy.
Apr. 2018. 288p. Prometheus, paper, $18 (9781633884137); e-book, $11.99 (9781633884144). 359.9.
Germano is a Marine Corps combat veteran with two decades of experience under her belt. When she was
selected to command the all-female training battalion at Parris Island, she was prepared for a tough gig and
felt sure that she could handle it. After all, she was a marine. But when she arrived at her new post, she was
shocked by the systematic abuse of recruits and the women's chronic underperformance compared to men.
The women scored lower in every area in which they were tested. Determined to raise the achievements of
the women at Parris Island, Germano sought to change outdated procedures and encourage a more positive
culture. In just one year, the women under her command improved their shooting, injuries decreased, and
morale lifted. What was Germanos reward? The Marines fired her. Germanos biting memoir traces her time
at Parris Island as she tackles the tough issues of gender bias and segregation in the military. This passionate
and raw account resonates with the Me Too and Time's Up movements and is a powerful story of one
woman's perseverance. --Patricia Smith
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Smith, Patricia. "Fight like a Girl: The Truth behind How Female Marines Are Trained." Booklist, 15 Mar.
2018, p. 4. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533094338/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2c0bd956. Accessed 23 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A533094338

Kate Germano, former commanding officer of female Marine recruits, will share what it means to "Fight Like a Girl" at National Press Club Headliners Event April 12
Source: PR Newswire US, 03/20/2018
Item: 201803201642PR.NEWS.USPR.DC44561
WASHINGTON, March 20, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When Lieutenant Colonel Kate Germano arrived at the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island, S.C., the Marine Corps' all-women boot camp, she decided that if she was really going to improve the lagging performance of the female Marines under her command, she was going to have to try something new: raise expectations and push for tougher standards for female recruits.

After just one year under her leadership, female recruits made significant gains in strength tests and retention rates, and achieved a passing rate for initial rifle qualification equal to that of their male counterparts. In spite of these results, however, Colonel Germano was removed from command.

On Thursday, April 12 at 6:30PM, Kate Germano will share her new book "Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained" and explain why she believes the male-dominated Marine Corps has a systematic problem with female leadership and institutionalized gender bias at a National Press Club Headliners Event.

This event will feature a discussion with the author, an audience question-and-answer session, and a book signing. Tickets are $5 for National Press Club members and $10 for the general public. To purchase tickets and copies of the book, please click here.

Books will also be available for purchase at the event. Proceeds from book sales will benefit the non-profit affiliate of the Club, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, so we kindly ask that you leave all outside books and memorabilia at home.

About the Author:Kate Germano was an officer in the United States Marine Corps for twenty years, retiring in July 2016 after she was relieved from command of the only all-female unit one month prior. Since her retirement, Germano has been an outspoken advocate for raising the expectations and standards for women in the military, and combating what she believes is a culture of gender bias in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Contact: Lindsay Underwood, lunderwood@press.org, (202) 662-7561

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kate-germano-former-commanding-officer-of-female-marine-recruits-will-share-what-it-means-to-fight-like-a-girl-at-national-press-club-headliners-event-april-12-300617096.html

SOURCE National Press Club

"Germano, Kate: FIGHT LIKE A GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525461605/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 23 June 2018. Smith, Patricia. "Fight like a Girl: The Truth behind How Female Marines Are Trained." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2018, p. 4. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533094338/ITOF? u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 23 June 2018.

• New York Journal of Books
  https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/fight-girl
  Word count: 808

  Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained
  Image of Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained
  Author(s):
  Kate Germano
  Release Date:
  April 3, 2018
  Publisher/Imprint:
  Prometheus Books
  Pages:
  288
  Buy on Amazon

  Reviewed by:
  Laura Schultz
  When recruits enter the Marine Corps many of them have an idealistic view of what constitutes an effective Marine, and they embrace the adventure that awaits them. What awaited Author Kate Germano was a nightmare. The phenomenon she experienced was an initiation into the dark world of extreme misogyny.

  According to Lt. Colonel Germano one of the main issues that contributes to this issue is that “The Marine Corps continues to be the only service where men and women train separately in boot camp or basic training. This segregation negatively affects interaction with male marines later on and lowering the expectations of female recruits is actively maintained and encouraged.”

  Germano dedicated her career in the Corps to rectify the situation by attempting to equalize the standards between men and women and thus create a level playing field. She believed that if the women increased their shooting skills and vastly improved their stamina during the grueling workouts in boot camp that they would be viewed differently resulting in improved morale.

  Finally after President Bill Clinton issued an order for women to be able to fly combat missions in the early ’90s, the Corps began to integrate both boot camp and basic training. As the old institutional methods appeared to progress, other issues came to the forefront.

  Germano felt it was her duty to fight rampant sexual harassment and sexual assault. The most notable scandal was Tailhook in 1991 when during a conference of Navy and Marine officers “more than 100 of them were accused of sexually assaulting eighty something women and a handful of men.”

  A Rand study was then commissioned to research gender integration. “Rand found that about twenty-one percent of women reported sexual harassment but for the Marine Corps it was higher: twenty-seven percent reported sexual harassment at work.”

  While serving as Commander of the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island Lt. Colonel Germano attempted to foster a more egalitarian system for her female recruits. However, she was rebuked at every turn by officers in the upper echelons who were invested in the status quo. She was labeled as a troublemaker and ultimately her reputation was decimated.

  As she clearly states, “They (instructors for young officers) don’t tell you that when you speak out, the institution you love will turn on you and attack you. People you think are your friends will slink off into the shadows and abandon you.”

  Lt. Colonel Germano did however have a group of dedicated supporters. Contained in the first paragraph of the first six chapters in the book were letters of support from fellow Marines that both praised her dedication and commitment to her recruits and the Marine Corps in general. Along with praise, there were offers of assistance if she ever needed their help.

  Despite her tenacity and vast improvement of skills from her female recruits, the handwriting was on the wall. Lt. Colonel Germano was relieved of her command of the Fourth Battalion, and the frenzy began at all levels of the Marines to discredit her.

  Ultimately, the goals she worked tirelessly for at that time were both ridiculed and dismissed. For Author Germano, it was an excruciating experience that seemingly will affect her the rest of her life.

  This is evident in the tone and content of Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained.

  The lengthy details of myriad conversations with her commanding officers and others build an impressive case for Germano’s skills and dedication. However, some readers may lose some interest due to their repetitive nature.

  Additionally, her wounds are so deep that it appears she is both in mourning and enraged at her circumstances. These feelings are completely understandable, but there are some readers who might be both depressed and discouraged about affecting any change in the military. This book has an important story to tell, but it is not for everyone.

  Laura Schultz is a published writer in myriad venues including magazines and online, and her poetry debut Arise and Shine: Laments of the Darkness, Songs of the Light came out in 2011. Additionally she has been a licensed psychotherapist for over 25 years. She also studied both Italian and Spanish at the UCLA and has traveled extensively both in Italy and Mexico. She has long been an avid student of history.

• Foreword Review
  https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/fight-like-a-girl/
  Word count: 417

  FIGHT LIKE A GIRL
  THE TRUTH BEHIND HOW FEMALE MARINES ARE TRAINED
  Kate Germano
  Kelly Kennedy
  Prometheus Books (Apr 3, 2018)
  Softcover $18.00 (288pp)
  978-1-63388-413-7

  Lieutenant Colonel Kate Germano led female marine recruits to succeed in a system that expected little from women and kept them out of infantry roles. In Fight Like a Girl, she recounts bringing up performance scores and morale at the Parris Island training facility, and the outrageous lack of support from she received from the Marine Corps, which fired her a year into the job.

  Germano, who shows herself to be a great communicator committed to integrity and equality, faced a stunted career after challenging the status quo. Throughout her book, she argues compellingly that there’s no excuse for gender bias in the military or elsewhere and that the time for practices reinforcing such prejudices is up.

  Germano details challenges familiar to many successful women, from seeing her progress mocked and being told to smile more to witnessing how difficult it is for women to stick together in a male-dominated field. Her reflections are conversational and whip-smart, and her research into effective leadership is evident.

  In discussing both triumphs and mistakes made throughout her career, her goal is improvement. And it’s telling that despite her twenty years of service, innumerable institutional improvements, and bevy of other successes, she still feels the need to preface her successes with “I’m not bragging, but …”

  The book skips back and forth in Germano’s career. She was only in her Parris Island position for a year, though the improvements she implemented there might make it seem longer. Two chapters written by her husband might better serve as appendices.

  An expose of systemic sexism, thoughtful managerial advice, and a memoir of a career, Fight Like a Girl is an important insider’s look at the Marine Corps and its last throes of denying women chances at combat positions.

  Reviewed by Meredith Grahl Counts
  March/April 2018

  Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

• Portland Book Review
  http://portlandbookreview.com/2018/05/fight-like-a-girl/
  Word count: 268

  Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines are Trained by Kate Germano with Kelly Kennedy
  by Sarah Hutchins on May 16, 2018

  Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Kate Germano arrived at the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island in South Carolina, an all-female unit, determined to improve the women’s performance. When she succeeded, she was fired. She realized that the Marine Corps, the most elite branch of the US military and the only one that trains male and female recruits separately, didn’t want the women to succeed. From the beginning of their entry tests, women are held to a lower standard, which leads to underperformance, easily avoidable injuries, and failure.

  Publisher: Prometheus Books
  Formats: Paperback, eBook, Kindle
  Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | iBooks
  The organization of Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines are Trained is relatively inexplicable. Many of the fifteen chapters open with a letter from one of LTC Germano’s fellow soldiers, who expressed their surprise and regret at her sudden departure. They set a loose thematic undertone for the focus on one aspect of the sexism in the Marine Corps: rape, “mean girl” mentality, shooting marks, etc. There are parables but no strong narrative pull or developed characters.

  It’s an undeniably interesting and important story in today’s conversations about gender equality, but this book could have benefited from additional editing and revisions. Germano is angry at the explicit sexism, but the repetition grinds an ax at the reader rather than at the Marine Corps leadership.

• New York Minute
  https://www.newyorkminutemag.com/how-to-fight-like-a-girl-kate-germanos-advice-to-military-women/
  Word count: 838

  How to Fight Like a Girl: Kate Germano’s Advice to Military Women
  Kelsey Welsh KELSEY WELSH
  BADASS WOMENAPRIL 12, 2018
  IT’S TIME TO ADDRESS THE MISOGYNY IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRYSERENA WILLIAMS SENDS EMPOWERING MESSAGE THROUGH NIKE AD
  Forget about being an "exceptional woman" – Kate Germano wants to be remembered as a woman who stands in solidarity with other women.

  For years, Kate Germano pushed herself to be “one of the guys.” As a female Marine, Germano had to work twice as hard as the men around her to be taken seriously on the job.

  “I wanted to be the exception,” Germano wrote in an op-ed piece published by USA Today. “I tried to prove myself through strength, speed and performance, but only at the expense of other women.”

  “If you’re an ‘exceptional woman,’” Germano continued, “you don’t fit the negative stereotypes for female Marines – and there any many. But to maintain membership in the club, you must segregate yourself from other women who might be struggling, or you risk being painted with the same brush.”

  The Marine branch of the military is known for its particularly hypermasculine environment; women only make up about seven percent of the force.

  “We stick out,” Germano wrote. “So we have to try to fit in, even if it means denying help or affinity to ‘our kind.’”

  Germano began to question what exactly it meant to be an “exceptional woman.” She cites an article written for The Atlantic by Patricia Pender that classifies the character Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as an “exceptional woman.”

  Pretty Litter
  Pender compares Buffy to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in that she is “not necessarily a sister to the cause.”

  Germano elaborates by saying that the stereotypical exceptional woman “fights as an individual. She doesn’t celebrate the achievements or fight the negative expectations of other women.”

  In Germano’s experience, being exceptional meant that she wasn’t being authentic to herself. She adopted more masculine traits and denied her exposure to sexual harassment and assault so that she could blend in with the men.

  “I assumed that if I was strong—and if the women who worked for me were strong—we would be safe. But preaching strength leaves little room for women to come forward when they’ve been belittled, or harassed or assaulted,” she wrote.

  Germano now understands the strength it takes to embrace womanhood in the workplace. She recognizes the power that women have when they band together and admits that she made a mistake when she tried to blend in with the boys.

  One of her junior Marines confessed that she had been too afraid to approach Germano to inform her she had been being harassed by a senior non-commissioned officer. She was afraid that Germano would judge her and assume that she was not strong because she couldn’t handle the situation herself.

  “That’s devastating to me,” Germano said.

  The #MeToo movement has paved the way for a new kind of “exceptional woman” to thrive in society. For too long, women have been forced to remain silent about mistreatment they’ve endured because they assumed they were the only ones being harassed or that no one would believe them.

  “‘Exceptional women’ like me looked the other way,” Germano regrets. “Younger women understand this. They write about it. They form social media groups for support. They know better than to reach up.”

  Germano’s mistakes in her leadership became apparent to her as she moved up the ranks.

  “By the time I arrived at Parris Island to command Fourth Battalion, the military’s only all-female battalion and the place where Marine Corps boot camp is conducted for women, I had a firm grasp of my previous failures to mentor Marine women, and I wanted to work to lift them and to convince them they could be stronger, tougher and faster than they ever thought possible. But I learned that first, we must work together to destroy this idea of ‘exceptional women,’” she writes.

  Germano, with the help of Kelly Kennedy, who served in the U.S. Army, penned a book called Fight Like A Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained. The women call on Congress and the public to hold the branch accountable for the manner in which women are treated. Their goal is to change the culture and push for reforms that will not only make military work environments a safer place for women but all work environments in general.

  “We want both men and women to understand that growth for women—confidence, accomplishment and trust in their own work and leadership style—will only happen if we banish the idea of the exceptional woman,” Germano said.

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