My BS detector needs a new battery after reading the first sentence:
She's marched for miles carrying gear that weighs as much as she does.
“He recognises that there are some valid concerns: most pertinently, the ability of a female soldier to quickly carry a wounded male counterpart to safety...”They are not going to win hand-to-hand combat, but most of the time we use guns and a lot of the time they shoot better than the guys.”
Requirements include:
Six pull-ups
50 sit-ups in two minutes
40 push-ups
3km run [< 2 miles] - maximum time 13 minutes
Yeah. Elite female fighting force. Just make sure they never need to carry anyone to safety and never need to do hand-to-hand combat.
Concur. When I was in the Marine Corps Infantry, there were a few times that I have carried my weight on my back and is is very taxing for even a few miles. I was in my early 20s and in very good shape and carrying 1/2 my weight for 10 miles was pretty hard.
The German Army in the late 18th/early 19th century did a thorough testing of what was the proper weight a person could carry day in an day out. This research was very important because that is how armies moved in those days. Now remember, during that time everyone was used to walking for miles, and going from point "a" to point "b' with a load on your back, was not even worthy of comment. I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember that it was decided that the that the average German soldier could carry 1/3 of his weight for 20 miles for many days- the same as a mule.
Additionally, the physical fitness test listed looks like a joke for an infantry man. But it does look very hard for a woman.
Oh yeah, long hair is a no no in a serious combat unit (even logistics units). It is a safety hazard, it gets in the way, and it requires a lot of maintenance.