Idaho Women First to Pass Marine Training School

CAMP GEIGER, N.C. (AP) — An Idaho woman is among three Marines who are the first women ever to graduate from the Corps' tough enlisted infantry training school in North Carolina. Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Geraldine Carey says the three completed the rigorous 59-day course at Camp Geiger near Camp LeJeune and participated in a Thursday ceremony.

Carey says the women met the same test standards as the men in the class. The course includes a grueling 12-mile march with an 80-pound pack as well as a variety of combat fitness tests.

Carey identified the women as 18-year-old Pvt. 1st Class Julia Carroll, of Idaho Falls, Idaho; 25-year-old Pvt. 1st Class Cristina Fuentes Monternegro, of Coral Springs, Fla., and 19-year-old Pvt. 1st Class Katie Gorz, of St. Paul, Minn.