A woman who emerged victorious from a gruelling special forces selection process would like to see the army open up the SAS to female soldiers.
Clare Miller, 32, endured torture, hooded interrogation and sleep deprivation, and was named the strongest candidate in a mixed-gender group of 29 people chosen to take part in a BBC Two series called Ultimate Hell Week.
Some of her male competitors dropped out while being put through training by the SAS, US Navy Seals and elite regiments from Australia, the Philippines, Russia and Israel. The SAS does not presently allow women candidates because they are still not allowed to bear arms.
Dr Miller, a hospital haematologist from London, is a former rower and champion duathlete who once cycled 2,626 miles for charity. She is the UK’s fastest woman obstacle racer, which involves a 20-mile course crawling under barbed wire, wading through cold water and scaling 8ft walls.
The doctor, who came fourth out of 6,000 racers this year, with three men ahead of her, said that her experience showed that women were up to the challenges of the SAS. “I’ve always loved the idea of seeing whether a woman could get through SAS training,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I agree that if you took 100 men and 100 women, a greater majority of men would be able to physically manage the tasks involved in special forces training.
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“Obviously, there are physical differences. I’m pretty strong but I weigh 55 kilos. If I was asked to lift a man weighing 20 stones I’m less likely to be able to do that than a man. So when it comes to strength, the guys have perhaps got an edge. But we stood up as well as the guys in the mental tasks.
“In the interrogation task we were at least as good as the men. I think there are roles we would certainly be good at in the special forces.” Her views were not shared by Ray Care, one of the commandos who trained her.
“There are certain things a woman should do,” he said. “Going through Navy Seal training is not one of them. I’ve told women before: stay in your lane. From a training standpoint, men have to change and get naked in front of each other. Financially it would make no sense because everything would have to be segregated.”
The Ministry of Defence said it was reviewing rules that banned women soldiers in the infantry and armoured corps from bearing arms, which could pave the way for women to join the SAS.