Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to speak at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus will speak at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort on Thursday.

Mabus will speak to Marines and sailors about the state of the Navy and the direction of Navy and Marine services at 1:45 p.m. in the Air Station’s Lasseter Theater, according to an MCAS news release. He will then take questions in a town-hall format.

Mabus has been at the center of the push to integrate women into Marine infantry roles after an order in December opening all military combat roles to women.

In January, Mabus ordered the Marines to devise a plan to integrate boot camp and Officer Candidate School and craft more gender-neutral job titles. He has since backtracked, saying male and female recruits should continue to train separately, the Marine Corps Times reported.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to speak at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort."