A ban on women fighting in frontline combat roles is expected to be lifted this summer.
Penny Mourdant, the defence minister, and General Sir Nicholas Carter, the head of the army, are due to give speeches to mark International Women’s Day on March 8 that will celebrate the role played by women in the armed forces.
They are expected to touch on a review that is being conducted by the Ministry of Defence into the physiological impact of frontline infantry duty on the female body. That review, which is due to be concluded in June, will inform discussion about opening up the full range of combat jobs in the army to women.
The remarks “will offer an indication of the direction of travel” in the debate, a defence source said. “A final decision will be made in the summer.”
David Cameron has spoken out in support of allowing female soldiers to take on combat roles within infantry units, such as the Parachute Regiment. The United States has already changed its rules on women in ground combat roles following a series of assessments.
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Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Williams, a former commander of 22 Special Air Service, said that limiting a woman’s potential in the British army was as illogical as the ban on homosexuals openly serving, which was revoked in 2000.
Female soldiers already operate alongside the SAS as part of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, a surveillance and intelligence-gathering special forces unit. Female agents also have a long history of dangerous work in the army, parachuting into Nazi-occupied France as part of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, he said.
“It is hard to argue that women cannot play their part as an equal to a man, as long as they can pass and maintain the basic fitness and skill standards,” Colonel Richards writes in The Times. “Therefore, ensuring parity of opportunity in the combat services for both women and men in our armed services is not a choice, nor is it a compromise of our ability to maintain our fighting spirit. Instead it is a clear commitment to the freedom that we seek to protect, and should be enacted with absolute vigour now.”
The anticipated change in the rules will be a historic moment for the armed forces. Less than 25 years ago women were only able to serve in female-only branches of the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Barriers have slowly fallen away. Most recently, General Carter has introduced flexible working hours and the possibility to serve part-time in the army to encourage more women to stay in the military when they have children.
The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst last year began allowing female and male recruits to train together in mixed platoons rather than keeping them segregated.
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Opening up all combat arms to women, however, is particularly controversial, with a number of soldiers and veterans warning that it is not a good idea.
Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired army officer, said that putting women in, what were once all-male, close-combat units would damage its effectiveness, particularly as only very small numbers of female soldiers would have the physical strength and desire to make such a move.
He also feared that entry standards would be lowered to enable women to make the grade. “No sound reason has ever been given as to why it would make our armed forces more effective,” he said.
The former officer said that he believed the decision was being driven by political correctness. “It is dangerous to make a decision of that sort on an ideological basis. I believe it would undermine the effectiveness of the military to have women serving on the front line.”