Women serving in Infantry units

I'll go all PC and say I totally agree with you. If they pass the tests required, then they should join. Ability, not gender is the way forward. There, I've said it.
Major studies by the USMC and the Israelis show that allowing women into front-line infantry units doesn't work. It's false to say that most other major countries allow this.


Actually, I'm watering myself at the thought that people think women and men are equal physically. They're not. That is why we have Men's sport, and Women's sport.

I know for a fact that the RM have projected a pass-rate of "1.3 women in the first year", so they think that maybe one woman will pass out. The fear is that no women will pass the accepted current test levels, and that in a couple of years time the cry will go out that women are 'under-represented', and the test levels will be dropped to allow them in. Civilians have no idea or understanding of the weight carried by an Infantryman. There are times where your bergen is so heavy that you cannot put it on yourself. You have to get a couple of guys to lift it onto your back. If a woman is struggling physically to carry her share of equipment, then that equipment will get handed to the other guys, meaning they have to carry even more. It will effect the combat effectiveness.

There are also the other issues that are not talked about. What happens the first time a female infanteer gets captured, with the videos appearing of her being gang-raped, and then beheaded?
Also, relationships. We are human, relationships happen. Will that effect the combat effectiveness of a small unit if two of the soldiers are in a relationship? What happens to that unit if the relationship falls apart? A combat unit is built for combat, not a social experiment, because that social experiment will costs lives when the sh** hits the fan.

There is a place for women in the military, but anyone who thinks it is in the fighting infantry is deluded. As for joining SAS/SBS, well, that is just a joke. It won't happen unless they drop the standards.

Of course, this is all just my opinion, based on being a Corporal in the Royal Marines in a previous life.