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Advice for women on BMQ and other courses [MERGED]

LiL_T,

I always look for people I can take as role models through my own enrolment process.
You are now one of them.

Congratulations on your achievements  :nod:

Alea
 
Thanks a lot Alea, that really means a lot to me.  It's been a really emotional week for me, looking back on everything I've been through and achieved.  No matter how much I wanted to quit sometimes, I just didn't have it in me to give up.  I'm finally really proud of myself.

Proud to finally, really be a member of the CF.  :salute:
 
Lil_T said:
Thanks a lot Alea, that really means a lot to me.  It's been a really emotional week for me, looking back on everything I've been through and achieved.  No matter how much I wanted to quit sometimes, I just didn't have it in me to give up.  I'm finally really proud of myself.

Proud to finally, really be a member of the CF.  :salute:

And you obviously did well at using your mental capabilities to not quit when you had enough. Again, congratulations to you and... maybe, one day, I'll have the honor to work with you as an RMS and make sure no errors are made on pays ;)

Take good care and enjoy your victory,
Alea
 
"The rucksack march was pretty good, would have been better if Hill wasn't bitching  and crying the whole time though"

"You're such an ******* ***name***!"

Hey Lil_T, guess who lol

Yeah, yeah, necropost I know, but she was on my platoon, I had to.
 
I totally whined through that whole damn thing... LOL

Don't care though... it's done.  And I'll do it again when I have to.

screw you S*****  LOL...

are you still in Borden?
 
Well considering this thread is back alive, I actually have a question. I was wondering what happens to you if you're injured in training to the point of basically being out of commission for an extended period of time?

Regardless, congrats on all the success!
 
Apologies if this has been discussed thousands of times before.

One of the most interest facts about the Canadian Forces I confess, as a foreigner, is the fact they permit women to join whichever role they like in the military - including infantry and armour, and I'm sure most of you know it's uncommon, even in the West for women to be allowed to be in those combat arms. In the US military and here in the UK women can't join infantry-type roles at all (Royal Marines, etc), and in the US women can't be in armour or field artillery and here in the UK women can join any part of the artillery and be tank crewmen and tank officers in the Territorial Army (reserves..), but that's it. As far as I've seen, many of the US and UK populations, both military & civilian, are extremely averse to the idea. I'm a female and I'm going to be trying out for the Army (Royal Artillery) in a couple of months, so this topic interests me a great deal.

So I'm just wondering what the Canadians opinion honestly is? Mainly those serving in the Canadian Forces, whose opinions I'm interested in, but anyone else is free to answer obviously. Do Canadians support it in general, or is it seen as a "dick move for the sake of being PC" by your government?

P.S. Thanks for reading and I hope I get some interesting answers here! If this is in the wrong catagory, any mod is free to move it, lol.

 
If she can carry the same kit, do the same job, show the same professionalism, and bring the same devotion to duty, I don't give a shit if she's got ovaries or wears a bra.

Gender is not, in my mind, something that *inherently* limits you. Very few people cannot, with sufficient motivation and effort, get themselves in shape to serve in the combat arms. YOU will have to make the decision to fight that uphill battle - and it will be one; you will face a certain degree of prejudice from your peers. Decide for yourself if you're willing to put everything you have into being good enough to serve your country. If your answer is 'yes', then don't let anyone tell you different.

Best of luck to you.
 
I don't think it's a case of PC run amok. Most troops would likely say something along the lines of "same pay, same risks". Equality is just that. We've had our share of females KIA, and have grieved for them no more nor less than their male counterparts. Of course there have been loudmouths in the public media that have made some very chauvinistic commentary, but I don't think those ideas hold much water with the average troop. Besides, women are far too integrated into the CF as a whole to turn the clock back, and I'm not sure that the troops would want it so.
 
I've met a lot of feminist-types that talk an awful lot of talk about equality and this and that. Of course, my psychology prof's (a raging feminist) idea of equality was bringing women along for the ride so they could "shoot the guns and stuff" but not have to hump the kit, dig the hole, etc. :facepalm:

So far the only woman I've met that wants to be a Reg Force Infantry O doesn't do much of the talking stuff, but she walks the walk, and with a lot of kit on her back, too. Her only shortcoming is she's a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, but we usually don't give her too hard of a time about that considering ;D

I guess my point is, there's a lot of advocates for women that do a poor job of representing most of the women I've met in my life. Don't be the talker, be the walker, and you will have no problems being accepted by your peers and you will most likely pave a lot more roads for women without ever trying than those that are always trying but seem to get nowhere.
 
AFK said:
So I'm just wondering what the Canadians opinion honestly is? Mainly those serving in the Canadian Forces, whose opinions I'm interested in, but anyone else is free to answer obviously. Do Canadians support it in general, or is it seen as a "dick move for the sake of being PC" by your government?

A common Canadian (those without an agenda) reaction would probably take the following course:

Quizzical - There are women in the combat arms? (What are the combat arms?)
Reflective - That's interesting?
Conclusion - So what? Yawn.

For military the quizzical stage would be bypassed.
 
I'd be lying if I said I don't have any prejudices against women in combat roles, and I think most men have those same prejudices.
In my BMOQ, our platoon was actually split about half-half between men and women, but out of the 6 going into combat arms, only
1 was a woman.

That being said, the only female on the platoon happened to be the only future infantry officer. And the thing is, although she's got a ways
to go before she can be an effective combat leader, the same can be said for all of us coming off that course and she has definitely shown
the raw skills necessary for combat roles.

It's easy to let prejudices get the best of us. Warfare used to be all about who can swing that sword harder and faster and so it was reserved
almost exclusively for men. However, muscle strength, although necessary, is no longer critical. What is needed for modern combat
are skills like fast reflexes, situational awareness, on the fly adaptation ,good aim, mental stamina, etc. These are skills that can be taught to both
men and women.

My experience is limited, but I can tell you that there are some that view it as a BS PC move and some that view it as being only fair. Personally, I know
that after awhile in the field, I really stopped caring about the small details concerning the people around me that would drive me nuts in civvie life.
As long as the person next to me did their job well and didn't cause me extra grief, i liked them, and I tried to do the same for them.
 
My platoon commander for my tour is female. I will 100% admit that when she was first posted in, everyone talked shit about her (myself included) and basically made all the crude jokes behind her back. Then we did IDCC and all that went out the door. She proved she could do everything and would do everything that we did. She was an extreme fitness nut, so she killed us in PT (not a bad thing). Her leadership was first rate and I have no serious complaints about her. None of those complaints would have anything to do with being a woman either.
 
I was one of the so-called dinosaurs who lived the transition in the early 90s.  When I left the reg force having served in infantry  battalions operating under the concept that women in the combat arms was absurd, I was faced, in my first exercise with the reserve in a milcon no less,  with a troop where a number of the troopers (this being an armd recce unit) were women.  Including my lynx driver  (yes we got to get folks qualified on, and play with, reg force equipment back then).  I really was taken aback and like a good officer sought counsel from my troop WO.  His advice - they're troopers like the rest of 'em, and treat 'em as such and let the crews and patrols do their thing.  And smart young captain that I was, I did as my troop WO recommended.  Never looked back.  We're all green, we all bleed red and we all have a job to do.  Thus endeth the lesson.

Edited to add: when I was OC Recce Sqn one of my troop leaders was a woman.  Her day job was as a municipal cop.  She did her job well, hauled her weight and no one ever was inclined to discuss gender.
 
Standards exist for a reason, If an individual is able to meet/exceed those standards in leadership/fitness/capability etc... I don't care who they are and I would be happy they're on my team.  Gender plays no part in that.
 
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