Retired Army Officer Calls For Women In Combat In The UK
Following the the US’s decision to allow women to serve in combat roles, our friends across the pond are starting to think it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to implement a similar measure with their military.
Brigadier Nicky Moffat, a retired UK army officer, said that her country should follow the example set by the US and not discriminate military service based on gender, reports the BBC.
“Ultimately the responsibility for the operational effectiveness of the army and for the lives of the soldiers that are deployed lies with ministers and with the heads of the services and they must make that judgement,” said Moffat.”But we shouldn’t dismiss the point about strength. The infantry combat fitness test is extraordinarily demanding and individuals are required to carry herculean amounts of kit.”
“But if we look at the achievements of our women Olympians I don’t think any reasonable person could say that there aren’t some women who could meet those standards.”
However, Moffat’s perspective is not without opposition. Major Judith Webb, who became the first woman to command an all-male field squadron, disagrees. She argues that resources would be wasted trying to train women to a military fitness standard that they are incapable of reaching.
“By opening it up to women are women shooting themselves in the foot? Because they are not going to meet those standards,” she argued. “Two women who made it through marine training in the US didn’t qualify.”
“So what are we achieving by trying to open it up to women, except wasting a huge amount of resources by trying to train women up to a level I don’t think they are going to meet,” she said.
Still, the US decision has been lauded as a “historic step” welcomed by President Barack Obama and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost both legs in Iraq.
“It’s time we stop being surprised that America’s daughters are just as capable of defending this nation as her sons,” she wrote in The Chicago Tribune.
What do you think? Should the UK follow the example of the US and allow women to serve in combat roles?
