What is your advice for Females joining the ranks of the combat jobs in the Military?

If they choose to go into a direct ground combat MOS than they should be willing to accept the rigors and hardships associated with these MOSs. Know that as females, they have everything to gain by meeting and exceeding the already high standards of these jobs for they are trail blazers in. Anything less will feed the negative stereotypes being touted with regard to the skills, abilities, and toughness of female military members. As a female XO in one of my earlier assignments had on her desk the expression: "Good, Better, Best - Do Good until your better is best and never let it rest."

1st and foremost, have respect for yourself! I was in when the 1st combat roles were opened to females and I felt the women lost self respect in attempt to "fit-in". DON'T! You will not be respected if you don't first respect yourself.

There will always be a handful of guys who think the military is a boy's club, no matter what the official policy is or what training is mandated so don't be surprised when you see it. The best way to deal with this is: a) don't take it personally--their opinions are a reflection of themselves, not you b) always be a professional because you will continually be evaluated for your "worthiness" of that job; even when you don't think you are being watched, you are c) take advantage of and learn from the positive aspects of your position (men and women, education, benefits, etc.) d) seek out a female mentor, preferably someone who has been in your shoes and can give you advice when you need it or if you just need someone to vent to.
A few other things...don't expect to be treated differently. Never use your gender as an excuse as to why you can't do your job. Be yourself--don't feel like you have to "act like a man" to be accepted. If you don't feel comfortable with certain behavior, don't partake. Above all, try to keep a "big picture" of where you are in your career. If you don't like where you end up, chances are in a few years you will move somewhere else or can cross-train. Never give up!

My recommendation is to get one of your fellow NCO's that was 11 series and get them physically prepared for Infantry school. I suggest a ruck program, just google military athlete ruck program, this should help getting them ready. Work on upper body strength. Coming from the Infantry I can tell you that they are not going to be welcomed with open arms, there is definitely going to be problems cause they are going to be looked at as having gotten a pass to get there. So they need to be mentally prepared, basic and AIT is one thing but line units are a whole different animal. Hope this helps get them started.

I would say don't go into a unit with the mindset that you need to be better than the males in the unit. I spoke to a number of female Soldiers that are surrounded by mostly men and that's the number one response I get is " I want to show that I can be better than the guys". Just go into the new assignment with the mindset to strive to be the best Soldier that you can be. Focus on areas that you have control in such as improving physical fitness and becoming competent in your MOS. Before you get offended by a comment think to yourself " Is this because I'm female or is this because I should be doing better?" Like in any job if you lose focus because you are worrying about what people think then you have already set yourself up to fail.

I must start by saying that I could not imagine what Benning would have been like with females in my unit. With that for the first four and a half years I served in the Infantry I rarely had any opportunities to work with females. On my first deployment to Iraq in 2003 I was on a small FOB just my battalion all male unit; about 6mo into the deployment we picked up a civil affairs team with a female Specialist. CSM held a BN formation where he told everyone what was not acceptable (pretty much everything we did....) I changed my MOS to UAS operator about 2 years latter still minimal contact with the opposite sex. My first UAS squad leader was a female Staff Sargeant. I learned very quickly that gender means nothing. Attitude, commitment and dedication are the things that matter. I say don't do it if it isn't about the job. I love the Infantry and would do it all over again if I was enlisting tomorrow.

New recruit know that just as new to the branch you have joined; you are just as new to the leadership that gets you. That leadership can/will make mistakes when it comes to you; be patient they will figure it out. Don't give up or give in this will be the hardest thing you will ever do. You will hit obstacles at every turn. You will meet some of the most selfless people in the world that will help you and be apart of you life forever. Remember you represent every female that comes after you. Good luck.

It's pretty straight forward for me, explain that they cannot quit or be weak. They need to perfom the same job functions as the males no exceptions!

I own Integrity Bresch. I only TEACH, one rule that changes a woman's perspective forever.

What is the one thing, that a woman can do that, a man can never do ?

Answer: Women can make life and they can take life. women are also the fiercest warriors on the planet. look up the Amazon Warriors, Egyptian Women, The Vietnamese Women, The Roman Women, the Spartan Women, The Trojan Women.

There is nothing a Woman cannot do. Also , look up the 2 most valuable Women on Earth that without them, None of us would be here, Mary the Mother of God and Eve the Mother of Man.

First of all i must commend them for choosing a Combat related Position. My advice is that they listen to their Platoon Sgt when they Arrive in country as he / she is very experienced with the Cultures , Go and No Go Zones of the area that the soldiers will be deploying to. Look, Listen , And learn all that you have the oportunity to as this will not only keep you and your Battle Buddy Alive but it will Broaden your experience and skills as a Soldier.

God Bless , Good Luck , And Come home Safe. HOOAH.........

While I do not approve of this change personally I would let the women know they are going to be going into the infantry. They need to be proactive and make themselves as tough as possible mentally and physically they will be smoked so PT. they should be proactive in maxing or passing the men's PT standard not the women's tell them it does not exist for them. This standard will only prove later to be a weakness and while I understand men do not always pass this either it is the standard and as such should be met.
Remind them of the culture and that they will be entering a force that was all male and most will still be all male for some time. These soldiers need to come in and mold to what is expected of our infantry soldiers and follow orders no matter how stupid. No asking for special treatment such as a guard to watch her latrine door or whatever. In the field she will be required to go weeks to a month with little sanitation besides wet wipes so be prepared for hygienic issues.

Mostly tell them that the infantry main job is to engage and destroy enemies and as such she needs to be ready to kill our enemies and protect our brothers/sister at all times.

I could keep going but phones suck to write RP responses.