As a former Infantryman and squad leader, I can tell you that the vast majority of MEN can’t hack the physical demands of the job. Your normal high school kid in the 80’s had to spend weeks of intense physical training in order to get into shape. Even then, we washed out 30% of my class. I’m told that today, many are in such poor physical shape that they have to be sent to a remedial course before going to Infantry school. I can’t even guess the wash out rate now.
How many can run/jog for 3 miles without stopping even if they are not timed? Not many I would venture. How many can do 10 correct push ups or pull ups? Even fewer. My comments are not gender based, rather an observation on the current generation.
When I graduated Infantry school, at a minimum you had to complete a timed 5 mile run, pass the PT test (40 push ups, 40 sit ups, 2 mile run in 16:00 min) and pass a 15 mile forced march with battle rattle (35 lbs ruck, weapon, harness, water, etc). And that was just good enough to get you assigned to a regular Infantry unit. Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger, Green Berets, etc all required even tougher standards.
“Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger, Green Berets, etc all required even tougher standards.”
I have some bad news for you. I went to Airborne school in 1990. Outside every mess hall in the Airborne training area, there is a pull up bar. We had to do a certain number of pull ups before entering for chow. There was a purpose to this - with the T10C parachute, you steered by pulling on the risers with your arms, and it took a lot of upper body strength.
But there were women there. So alongside every pull up bar, there was another one, around 3 feet off the ground. The women would lie down underneath the bar, and do a fake pull up. I guess they didn’t have to steer?
Another story. Before we jumped, the jumpmaster would check your parachute. This involved running his hands along the harness, through the crotch area, to make sure your straps weren’t crossed (crossed straps could slice your private parts in two when the chute opened). Every part of the pre-jump inspection involved physically touching the rigging, and this was no exception...
...until one day our Jumpmaster was a female. She skipped that part of the inspection.
BTW, many women pass Airborne and Air Assault School. Most are cadets, either West Point or ROTC...or members of support units in the 82nd or 101st.
Both schools involve a lot of fear, and Air Assault involved a huge ‘suck factor’...but really they weren’t as demanding as regular Infantry training. We slept indoors every night.