Women could serve on the front line after European Union forces army review
General Sir Mike Jackson, the former Army chief, said nothing had changed since the 2002 review.
He warned if the Government changed its mind on the role of women "there would be concerns that operational effectiveness, particularly in the infantry, could be and probably would be jeopardised".
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In current operations women have served with distinction, sharing the same dangers as men, and a number of have been decorated for their bravery.
There are female Harrier, Tornado, Apache attack helicopter pilots as well as Royal Artillery gunners and many combat medics.
However carrying 100lbs of kit in the 122F (50C) heat of Helmand could preclude all but a small number of women on physical grounds.
...So let that small number of women reach the standard and have the job. If it's a physical requirement, make it about strength, not sex. This is the very definition of gender inequality.
As for the effectiveness of women in this type of situation, a friend pointed out the BBC 2 documentary The Trouble with Working Women to me, and I caught the first episode of it on iPlayer last night (by the time this is published it probably won't be accessible anymore, I'm really sorry about that!). In one part of the programme the presenters interviewed the only female police officer in a unit of armed officers, and asked her teammates whether they trusted her any less, and if the physical difference was a problem. They each answered unequivocally and without hesitation that it did not, and that they would trust anybody who had gone through the training and reached the appropriate standard. One of them said something on the lines of, "We're a team, and she's one part of that. That's all there is to it."
