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

Have thick skin, do your job, give 130%, don't expect special treatment and don't be surprised or offended by the jokes/comments that will undoubtedly be thrown around.

If they work hard and meet the standard then keep up the good work and keep their priorities straight and stay away from strip clubs.

Men will be boys and Boys will be Men. But if you show that you can hack it the same or better than them, and show that you can lead them, the boys will be Men and follow you forgetting that you're a girl. Leadership traits will be key. Groups of soldiers always need to be led. Regardless their sex.

Don't

I don't want his to come across the wrong way, but here goes:
1. Pull your weight
2. Always, always have each others backs
3. Do not flirt (both men and women)
4. Always strive to be the best no matter what you are called upon to do
5. Eat when you can, sleep when you can, and s-!t when you can because you never know when the next opportunity will be

Not sure how long this thread has been up, but I would say with the new skills task if they can meet the requirement then let them. I've met many Women in my days that I would rather pick for jobs than my male soldiers. No bias is how I feel. If you can do the job....then let them do the job.

As a former combat engineer, i would suggest these female recruits focus on building their core muscles and increasing their upper body strength as much as possible before arriving for basic training. The combat arms MOS is not as much about brain power as it is about brute strength and mental endurance. If you can carry your weight you will be accepted and respected. Just do your job and do it better than anybody else.

Honestly they need to be willing to put in the work like anyone else. Male or female you need to meet the standard. Don't go into combat arms thinking people will automatically welcome you with open arms. Combat arms and the infantry specifically is an arena where your actions matter. If you can't walk the walk don't even talk the talk. Talk is cheap. The infantry is the first MOS to fill every FY because everyone wants to be a badass but from my experience not everyone is ready when it comes time to do baddass stuff.

Forgive me for not knowing, but has the Army adopted new physical fitness standards for combat arms? There has been much discussion, but has there been a real change? The scientific facts are that most women are physiologically different than men which limits their strength and aerobic functions. The infantry is all about your ability to perform physically with weapons and equipment on a variety of terrain. If women can meet whatever the standard is, then they should go combat arms if they choose, but if not, then no. Same for men.

At one point in my career, I was Military Police. There were female Soldiers. The only standard was the APFT, which has a different standard for men and women. There were not any female Soldiers in my company that could operate the large crew served weapons (.50/MK19) because they lacked the upper body strength. So now, we have females in many positions who will be required to perform tasks they can not perform. This is unacceptable but now is accepted since our political correctness rushed women into combat jobs that they can not perform. It's not just a matter of training or opportunity.

My advice is to stay away from combat arms unless you are a beast of a woman. If you can do EVERYTHING that male Soldiers can do, then thank you for taking on the job. If not, MOS reclassification.

It's a tuff call. If my daughter joined the military and wanted to be a combat soldier, and she was tough as nails and could handle the job great, but if I knew she physically could not handle the job or mentally I would talk her out of it.

Try your hardest, but remember why you joined the Army in the first place. If it was to be combat arms, only combat arms, and you will feel perpetually inadequate if you don't make it into combat arms--you may be deeply disappointed, because not everyone will make it through. If you joined the Army to be the best Soldier you could be, regardless of where you ended up, do that.