Armed forces women called to join ‘elite’ units with new fitness guide

Servicewomen will now have the brains and brawn required to take on the military’s hardest courses after a groundbreaking new health and fitness guidebook was released by defence chiefs.

Minister for Veterans and People, Calvin Bailey, told GB News the guide will ensure that more women will be able to serve as commandos, airborne soldiers and in the special forces.

He said: “We’ll have a lot more women able to reach and attain and maintain those standards for much, much longer than they have been able to in the past.”

“There is no lowering of the standards. We are just able to get people to and above the standard in a way that we weren't able to before.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

“It’s a journey that we took our men on, and it’s a journey we’re now not only taking our women on, but we are world-leading at doing so.”

A defence source said Nato allies, including the United States, were eager to receive access to the guide.

Five Eyes nations are understood to be interested in learning about the findings made by the UK team.

To inspect the pamphlet, journalists and the minister were flown to Kendrew Barracks in Rutland from RAF Northolt in London by Chinook.

As Britain's News Channel sped across England at 150mph, soldiers prepared to demonstrate new training capabilities for servicewomen with ambitions of passing arduous courses.

The lengthy new training guide covers fitness, nutrition and recovery. It is the first defence-specific guidance on female physiology in military training.

The MOD said that the new guidelines had been developed after a decade of research and experiences.

Restrictions on women in ground close combat roles were lifted by the Conservatives in 2016, opening access for female service personnel to every role in the military, including commando, airborne infantry and special forces jobs.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Andy Burnham vows to rebuild UK's 'hard power' with billions to British defence firms
• Labour's defence plan 'not real' as ex-SAS commander accuses ministers of trying to 'bury the issue'
• Red Arrows could be grounded for YEARS due to Keir Starmer 'sitting on his hands' on defence

But defence health and fitness experts have now drawn on expertise across the British Army, RAF and Royal Navy to provide guidance for women on training, sleep, nutrition, recovery and injury prevention to enhance access for women to roles that require arduous training and assessment.

This includes the All Arms Commando Course in Lympstone, which is needed to serve in the UK Commando Force, and P Company in Catterick, North Yorkshire, which leads to a career in airborne forces.

Defence figures told the People's Channel they also hoped the guide would be used by women seeking a career in the special forces, including the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, and the secretive Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR).

Women have been able to join the SRR since it was formed in 2005 and have served in frontline special forces roles since the regiment’s inception.

For the new study, women in arduous roles have been tracked by researchers, along with servicewomen who have attempted selection for elite military roles.

Defence scientists insisted standards would not be lowered for arduous courses but that opportunities for women to meet them would improve.

The ministry added the handbook would address the “historic gender data gap” in forces training and performance.

The study has revealed women make similar relative strength gains to men with structured training but that they need a minimum of six months to do it safely, as bone and connective tissue adapt slowly.

It also uncovered that sleep was a “performance-critical resource".

Servicewomen who managed an average six hours of sleep faced a fourfold increase in illness risk and more than double the risk of musculoskeletal injury compared to those sleeping over seven hours.

Protecting against hot and cold environments is also important for the assessment, which now includes greater understanding of how women react to extreme weather.

Defence scientists said “silent saboteurs” had eroded performance for women, such as iron deficiencies.

Julie Greeves, the guide’s research director, said: “Historically, physical performance research has been based on male data.

“This guide changes that – giving servicewomen the tools to train smarter, reduce injury, and stay in service for longer.”

Just 2.2 per cent of military women are in ground close-combat roles, of which an even smaller portion have completed arduous courses for service in elite roles.

It is now hoped armed with both the knowledge and the confidence to train smarter, these numbers will surge as more women meet the standard of the elite.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter