Advice for women on BMQ and other courses [MERGED]

[Jungle]

Right now, i think we would have a hard time raising the number of MEN in the infantry 25%, so it is not going to happen with women... Let‘s face it, the statistics prove it does not work. But the jerks in the "great ivory tower" in Ottawa will make it work... on paper !!! We‘re very good at that... remember the 10/90 Battalions ?

 

[Alfreda]

You guys have hurt my feelings. I think I‘ll go to my bunk and cry.
Seriously, my sister was in Cornwallis. I think she lasted about 3 weeks, couldn‘t take the heat. Kept doing exactly what I said in my open. They discharged her and sent her home.
What is wrong with women giving support. I certainly would rather nurse than get my head blowen off

 

[ender]

I am a female and have been in the reserve engineers for 2 years now. As a girl, you have a bit more to prove, but my experience has been mostly positive, and the guys will accept you as long as you can do the job. Of course there are a few idiots, but you find those everywhere. Anyone who says women can‘t be soldiers should open their eyes. There are plenty of good female soldiers in the CF that I proud to know.

 

[peanutshel]

The average woman does not have the upper arm strength that men have. Our bodies are just built differently and we are incapable of doing the same things. Of course, there are always exceptions to the ‘normal‘ This is why everyone should have an equal chance to be whatever trade they wish to be. However the standards should not be lowered to accomodate the ‘average‘. The world was much simpler when I joined the Militia 30 years ago. Our roles were clearly defined. However, along with the good parts were the bad, like sexual harassment. Today‘s Army is getting better in that respect.

 

[ender]

I am a female Engineer, physically much more demanding than infanteer. I can be panel party for an MGB and an ACRO bridge. That‘s all upper body work. I suck at running but I can out-ruckmarch a lot of my male counterparts. I‘ve carried the C6 on weekend ex‘s. I can do 50 pushups, even when I‘m not on course. Don‘t tell me I can‘t physically do the job, becuase I can and I have.

Yes, there are a lot of wussy girls in the army that shouldn‘t be there. No one is more offended by them than me. These people should get out of the combat arms. If you don‘t want to do the job, don‘t even try.

I have never used my gender as an excuse for anything. Yes, the recruiting tests are different for men and women. But on the first day of QL2 everyone does the pushups together.

There are only 4 female sappers in my Regiment. But all of us are good, we don‘t have tolerance for people that use being a girl as an excuse not to do anything. I disagree with a 25% quota in the combat arms. I disagree with quotas of any sort.
If you can do the job and you want to, you should be able to.

PS. XCameron,
i really don‘t think that I physicaly fit on the ‘abnormal‘ spectrum. (mentally is another issue- joke) I wasn‘t really into sports in high school, nor am I heavy duty into weightlifting. (I mostly just do pushups and stuff) I think that in the combat arms takes a lot of mental toughness and stuborness, (especially if you are a female) and that not everyone has this. But I think that physically it does not take freakish abilities to be a soldier. It‘s mostly mental anyway.

 

[Brad Sallows]

If it‘s all about physique, someone will have to explain to me why slightly built peasants subsisting on meagre diets and operating in difficult terrain (jungle, mountain) can give well-fed, well-equipped western soldiers a run for their money even when not all the technological advantages are stripped away.

 

[enfield]

..the same rough, tough lifestyle that will kill most of them before midle age due to sickness and injuries. They‘re hardened (in a way I never want to be) to physical discomfort and labour.

Ender- Engineer trade harder than Infantry? You in the same army?

Some of my buddies were telling me about working with a battery in Bosnia last year, and how women are phsyically incapable of loading the shells into the self-propelled guns. Can a gunner expand on this? Apparently the shells are stored above head height to the right, and the breach is about shin heiht on the left. The shells (what are they 50? 100 lbs?) have to be moved by one person in one movement from the storage racks into the breach.

I can say from personal experience that I‘ve only met one female soldier who can keep up - the rest are embarrassments. I‘m sure there are women out there that can do the job great - but how many of them WANT to join the infantry?? (or army)

 

[towhey]

I‘ve tried to avoid this thread because it‘s just.... silly.

What hangs or doesn‘t hang between your legs has very little to do with effective soldiering. I‘ve known damn fine female soldiers and damn fine male soldiers. And, I‘ve known soldiers of both sexes who were lacking. Their sex had nothing to do with their competence.

Kudos to ender for an on-target post.

 

[Infanteer]

Sure we are all looking at it from a strictly physiological view, but there are also social and psychological aspects to this argument.

 

[RCA]

Around and around we go. The "quota" is a red herring. It only means something if the supply is greater than the demand. Not an issue here.

And has anyone had a conversation with someone else about you with you standing there. Kind of uncomfortable isn‘t it. Kind of what is happening here.

The only ones who generalize about women in the combat arms are the ones who prefer "them" barefoot and in the kitchen". Those times are over. The militia has had females within the combat units for years with few problems, well before the Reg F started to fret about sleeping arrangements etc.

What the Army requires are soldiers regardless of gender. As with all types (whether gender, orientation, race or what have you) you will have some that excel and others will be unable to cut it. Let’s not generalize. As to the "warrior" who is worried about his hormones, if your a professional, its not a problem. If it is it is you who is too easily distracted.

As to the gunners in Bosnia, couldn‘t have been Canadian, because they have LG1s over there. However it is true that the M109 have rounds in the bustles. These are in the back door and are appox shoulder height. You pull the rd out swivel around and place it on the loading tray (without catching your fingers underneath.) The bullet weighs appox 90 lbs. Not an easy feat for anyone. Dropping it could be hard on the feet, not to mention the #1 ripping you a new one.

And remember this, soldering is as much mental as it is physical and that is gender neutral
.

 

[King]

Of course in implementing the idea of women in combat, things aren‘t so clear cut as "selection should be based on ones ability to do the job, not their gender."

Things aren‘t based on ability to do the job, with lower standards for women and the 25% quota. For anyone who isn‘t policy director of the NDP, the government makes it look like a social engineering project, rather then a rights driven one. If you want true equality then why not push the quota up to 50%? But I guess the burreaucrats at NDHQ, being the realists they are, left it at 25%. There might be less hostility to women in the infantry if the CF‘s policy of equality was actually a policy of equality.

 

[ender]

Enfield ,

I didn‘t say Engineer was a harder trade than infantry, I said it was a physically more demanding trade. As far as upper body strength goes, and heavy lifting Engineer uses a lot more. You can‘t argue that one. Probably infanteers can beat us on endurance, but the fact our secondary role is as infantry means that we have to be able to do patrolling as well. This should probably be a new topic if you want to into it further.

PS. I can lift 100 pounds. Kind of hard to build a bridge if you can‘t.

 

[Canidule]

I was watching tv and there was a show like survivor where there was a women who was a former marine....and she was pretty damn hot....but she got voted off the first day because she was the only 1 who failed an event....well anyway....is there any hot girls in the CF?

 

[Sharpey]

Does it really matter? Yes the Army should/will become an extension of your family, but it‘s not a night club! Just remember, you will be trained to put your life on the line for these "hot girls", as they will do the same for you. Just be careful thats all.
I enjoyed Infanteer‘s comment though.

OK, I sound like a Dad...wait....I am!

 

[bc_railfan]

yeah i have the same question...are there many/any good-looking women in the forces??

though some may not agree with me, young, good-looking women (and men for the opposite sex) would probably attract more young people to the forces. i‘m not saying this should be a reason for joining, but if i join i want to work with people my age....

on the topic, are there many young people in the regular forces (20-30 years)? i‘ve looked at the pictures and recruiting posters, but they never really show young people. the u.s. forces seems to have a great deal of young people in the ranks, and in my opinion this raises the appeal of joining the forces.

this is 100% not-important info, but the woman featured in the recruiting video for air traffic controller (i think) on the dnd website is real cute .

-brad

 

[Korus]

Maybe it‘s just me, but I think it would be really, really wrong to chase tail within your reg‘t... It unbalances things... distracts the soldier.. not a good thing, I assume.

heh heh heh.. besides... Army chicks aren‘t my type

 

[Marauder]

Even if there were any "hot chicks" in the Forces, the laws preventing fraternization would prevent you from doing anything about it. Besides, given the females I had to put up with on course, you would be more likely to end up with a law suit from them than an STD.

The Forces aren‘t a ****ing social club... you may wish to re-evaluate your reasons for joining. A fair amount of our American brothers just proved how deadly ****ing serious this job can be when doing it for real.

 

[Canidule]

haha.....i was just asking i heard so much rumors and im not joining because of girls....well anyway im already in a social club(also called school) and im really not interested at all in going into another 1.... and im serious about this job

 

[bender]

If your joining the army for some *** your looking in the wrong spot!

But as a side note i did an exercise with the navy a little while back and the chicks there where unreal! They where everywhere and all hot, even the cook was a peice of *** !!

 

[ender]

Joining the army to meet girls is pretty stupid, I mean the ratios just arn‘t in your favour. If there‘s one girl to 20 guys chances are she‘s already taken or not intrested. Besides, it‘s a bad idea to date inside your unit. (or, put more cruedly, don‘t s*** where you eat)

There are rules against fraternization? You wouldn‘t know it. They must have skipped that on my 2‘s. What are the actual rules? (I mean, obviously you keep it out of your chain of command, but other than that?)