The Royal Air Force is allowing woman to join the RAF Regiment which is the fighting force of the RAF who patrol and protect RAF Bases.
In recent years the regiment has sustained casualties in Afghanistan.
Woman can now apply for any RAF role from Fighter Pilot to Ground Support.
In a year woman will be able to join the Infantry and the Royal Marines where physical demands would be even tougher.
The RAF regiment will be open to woman this month a year ahead of the original schedule.
Strain on the body
The former head of the army Colonel Richard Kemp told the BBC he “vehemently disagrees” that woman should serve in combat roles because of their physical capability.
He said: “Once you have got through selection, you are subjecting yourself to a minimum of four years of intensive physical training, day in and day out, in barracks and out of barracks, which puts enough of a strain on a man’s body.”
Compensation payments could be made out of the defence budget
Colonel Kemp quoting statistics that women sustain around twice as many serious injuries as men do during training, Colonel Kemp added: “I think the reality is we will find many more women than men suffer injuries… and we will then undoubtedly see very significant compensation payments being made out of the defence budget.
“And the nature of woman’s bodies means that some of the injuries are going to be more significant in terms of being able to bear children and the like.
“I am not a doctor, but I have certainly read up on this and that is a problem.”
A Former female Army Major thinks differently
Major Judith Webb stated that woman have proven they are already capable of these roles and in the interest of diversity those woman capable of this role should be able to do it.
