Aussie women in frontline service make the ADF a world-leader on integrated military

When it comes to frontline duty the Australian Defence Force is swelling its ranks with female soldiers, sailors and air force personnel.

For the first time defence has opened up on the extent of its decade-long plan to integrate combat roles and enable women to serve on an equal footing.

The army is where change is most striking with 411 women in combat roles in infantry, artillery and armoured units which is a fourfold increase over the past five years.

This change makes the ADF one of the most integrated fighting forces in the world.

[porksnag]

''Aussie women in frontline service makes the ADF military weak'' There you go, fixed the headline for you.

[norten]

So, since it is obviously not to make the the army stronger, what is it for?
To make the ladies happy? How is that a reason?

[dorianshadesofgray]

Australia : a world leader in self destructive wokeness

[atillathehungry]

Give me an army of all men vs a 50/50 army and the all men win all day long.

[item]

I hate to rain on this ANZAC day parade but a couple of years ago I visited the Gallipolis barracks at northwest Brisbane. I was shocked by how unfit the female soldiers looked (and some guys I have to say). Most of them were built like a pyramid. They are not at combat fitness. Either they've lowered the bar massively or they've made separate male and female standards, which makes a mockery of equality and would frankly be dangerous in combat.

[soakupthesunman]

LOL "a world leader on integrated military".
How stupid is that? That is not what the military is for!

[happyharry]

Make tanks and fighter jets accessible for pregnant women then!

[JohnDoe-kbfe]

As the male soldiers are told, “no matter what happens, don’t let one of those bitches die. It will be a PR nightmare”. Just like what happened to the firefighters.

[dopermeen]

Australia one of the nations who endorses Iran to head the UN commission on women’s rights. Does conscription apply to the ladies?

[danrobinson]

We have had thousands of years to observe that there is a dynamic that exists in all-male combat units which clearly increases cohesiveness and lethality. Over and over again, history has shown us that the combination of fit young men and realistic training has lead to success in battle. Whilst unpalatable to many people now, that is a fact. For over twenty years the senior leadership of the ADF has done it's best to ignore this reality and has been engaging in government driven social experimentation at the cost of operational effectiveness. It is irrelevant if the ADF is 'integrated' or not. If it doesn't have the capacity to defeat first world adversaries it is a waste of tax payers money.

When I was in the Army I observed a marked difference between units with females and units without them. It's a lie that gender doesn't matter. Most young, modern soldiers have been shielded from seeing this difference as they have never known anything but 'integrated' units and would face formal consequences if they dared to question the current status quo. Combat related soldiering is an abnormal role, requiring some very different dynamics to those that exist in a white collar office environment. Therefore it's no surprise that journalists and government policy makers have no understanding of this as it is beyond the scope of their experience and ideological leanings.

[robertrowe]

Wait for the next combat engagement that Australia has and hundreds of young women come back in body bags, will we still be so proud?

[KurtBoulter]

Australia has ALWAYS had women in the military! What should NEVER happen, is women in combat roles on the front lines! This is terrible and will only cause more problems than have been prior to this idiotic direction made by the ADF. A man is unable to stop himself from putting a woman's life before a man's, in critical situations, thus, discriminating against his fellow soldier, rather than treating all as equal.

[pheels]

Are the inter service rugby league teams integrated?

Would the Australian army league team play against the nz army with 50% females when the nz army had an all Male team?

I think that would be a good experiment that doesn't involve bullets and bombs

[magicmike]

Not when the standards are deliberately watered down for them and that compromises the overall effectiveness and safety of the entire unit.

[brumbybailey]

Crazy! I'm a retained firefighter and love it, so I understand the allurement of a challenging job, but I also understand most men could do it better than me and they're just not putting their hand up for whatever reasons. Sure, women can serve their country well in the military (and good onya!), but don't jeopardise the country's security by putting them on the front lines!

[lenniegodber]

Yes, let's make our armed forces weaker in the name of integration
I'm sure Australians enemies are just chuffed to hear it

[porksnag]

I'm ok with women being nurses in the military so long as they promise not to dance in Tick Tock videos.

[jetnavigator]

Lol that thing in the last shot is straight from the Lord of the Rings.

[VBHB]

If they want equal footing reach the same standards as the men.

[georgerichard]

Yeah I'm sure the Chinese and Russians will cower at the ADF's mighty wokeness.