TopShelf TG Fiction in the BigCloset!
Several news sources here in the UK are reporting that the first openly transgender soldier will serve on the front line thus becoming the first woman to do this (medics are already there and are fully trained soldiers)
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Comments
I suspect it's happened before
but not been reported. But it shows the British Army is able to change with the times.
Angharad
The real news story here...
which the MoD wanted to stress is that she is the first woman to serve in a direct close combat (DCC) role (in other words in either the infantry or armoured corps).
The fact that the MoD issued a press release about her shows they make no differentiation between cisgendered and transgendered women in the armed forces.
Persephone
Non sum qualis eram
I applaud the ministry and
I applaud the ministry and the army for taking this big step towards equal rights for women. Bullets, bombs, and shrapnel don't give a damn about gender- they never have. Any soldier who has a problem with someone's gender doesn't deserve to be on the front lines as they have shown they aren't the kind of soldier you want out there.
Hopefully they won't have to be tested for a while but any leap forward is a good thing.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Our Girl
Nothing to do with TG but an absolutely riveting TV series about a young girl serving as a medic with the British Army in Afghanistan.
You mean 'Our Girl'.
It was a very good show.
There is a new series on BBC now. The lead character is different and the episodes so far are set in Kenya (near the Somail border).
I like the new series just as much. The Female lead has a brain and does not mind getting her hands dirty.
Can't wait for the US version (not really)
Several Questions
Combat always includes the possibility of hand to hand physical contact, though now days, for now, that seems less common, which begs the question; what happens to a MtF whose strength declines down to around 60% or less of what they had previously? Having done the whole enchilada, I can verify that strength is less but can not put a number to it. And, what does this neo woman do about body mapping since most carry around an additional 5-10 lbs on their upper chest. And then there is the issue of the increased fat content in the layers of our skin.
Another issue is the decreased strength of skin. I do not know if this issue is caused by the estrogen, or if the family of issues surrounding Autoimmune Disease I haver causes it, OR if it is simply due to aging but I can now cut myself by simply using a fingernail like a knife.
So, now I am wondering about the combat effectiveness of such a delicate creature.
Please do not mistake me, if a woman, born or neo, wishes to be in the military it is her right.
Delicate creatures?
Living in an Army town, I see plenty of Women in Uniform. Most carry themselves in a way that says 'Don't get on the wrong side of me in a dark alley' and yet retain their feminity.
As for your thinness of skin, I think that is very much down to our age. My mother (94) has very thin skin and any cuts seem to take an age to stop bleeding.
Several answers
Gwen
The core combat fitness test in the British Army is completely independent of both age and gender and has been for the last thirty years. You will carry between 15Kg and 25Kg (depending on role) for eight miles in under two hours or you fail.
Unlike in the US armed forces (from my observations of serving alongside them), there is no equivalent body building cult in the British Army. Upper body strength is not central to combat capability, physical endurance is.
As for you point about body mapping the answer is simple. You wear a sports bra under your body armour like every other woman on operations does. Overall fat is redistributed so as long as you stay fit you don't put on weight.
Persephone
Non sum qualis eram
BEF testing
BEF == Battle Efficiency Tests
I see plenty of Soldiers in full kit with backpacks (less guns) pounding the roads and paths around the town especially along the Canal towpath.
Rather them than me. Well, I'm too old anyways.
The USSR in WW2 used women in
The USSR in WW2 used women in fighter planes bombers Sinpers and other units SOE had women agents who were Trained in armed and unarmed combat.So women in combat is not new.Women are tougher than you think