Women not fit enough to fight on the frontline

A former senior Army female officer has said that women soldiers should not be allowed to fight on the front line because they are not fit enough.

Major Judith Webb also said that the prospect of women dying in direct combat would be too shocking for the public to handle.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'By opening it up to women, are women shooting themselves in the foot?

'Because they are not going to be able to meet those standards.




'The British public still do not accept women should be in such roles.

Major Webb, who was the first woman to lead an all-male field force, told the programme that the standards of fitness expected of new recruits had already been lowered to allow more women into the Army.

She added that expected standards for men were likely to fall further in order to meet what women can do.

Although she doesn't believe that women should serve in combat roles, Major Webb, formerly of the 28th Signal Regiment in Germany and Cyprus, believes that women are suitable for driving or medic roles on the front line after they proved their worth in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Her comments came after the United States Government yesterday lifted a ban on women soldiers serving on the front line.
Strong views: Shadow Defence Minister Jim Murphy has called for a rethink of policy which stops women soldiers fighting on the front line

Strong views: Shadow Defence Minister Jim Murphy has called for a rethink of policy which stops women soldiers fighting on the front line

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that anyone qualified should get the right to fight regardless of their sex.

The move could open 237,000 roles to women.

But the Ministry of Defence said yesterday that it has no plans to follow America's lead and review its own policy on women soldiers from the UK fighting on the front line.

Conservative MP and former captain in the Royal Fusiliers John Baron said that men are perhaps better suited to combat roles than women physically.

Tory MP Patrick mercer added that women serving on the front line is not practical.

But Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy urged the Government to review its policy on women’s role in warfare.

The US decision is ‘highly likely’ to influence policy here, a defence source told The Times.

Mr Murphy told the newspaper: ‘Women are already making an important contribution on the front line, including in Afghanistan. Time has now come to look again at the role of women in close combat.

‘The US Government decision that women can be deployed in combat has implications for all forces. We in Britain must maximise everyone’s talent and courage for our military and so should look again at UK policy.’

The policy which currently prevents women from applying for certain frontline jobs must be reviewed within the next four years.

Women across the Armed Forces already work on the front line as medics, intelligence officers and fighter pilots, among other roles.

They will also soon be able to serve on submarines.

A 2010 review of women’s role in combat concluded that inserting women into small frontline units who spend weeks in enemy territory, sleeping and eating together in the field, would not be a wise move.

The US decision to create greater equality was signed by outgoing Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday, who acknowledged that 152 US women had died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said: ‘They serve, they’re wounded, and they die right next to each other. The time has come to recognize that reality.’

Women make up around 12 per cent of officers in the British Armed Forces and 9 per cent of other ranks.


SOURCE : DAILY MAIL