Soldiering is so demanding that 24 per cent of CF medical releases in 2009 were due to physical injuries, while 32 per cent of soldiers surveyed for the Canadian 2010 Surgeon General’s Report were unable to deploy on operations due to musculoskeletal injuries. The test favours stronger and taller soldiers, but even the tallest and heaviest admit that the BFT is a demanding task. Both male and female soldiers carry the same load and are expected to complete all tasks in the same time frame. The BFT consists of a ruck sack march, trench dig, and casualty drag.
The Canadian Army’s Battle Fitness Test (BFT) is a gender-neutral measure of the occupational demand of the combat arms. The physical fitness standards in the Canadian Forces (CF) Expres Test, however “watered down” they are said to be, are merely aminimum standard. Yet, size doesn’t capture average fitness levels in combat units. Sure, men are, on average, stronger than women. An oft-repeated argument is that men are superior warriors because they are bigger and stronger. We’re also forgetting what soldiers want: The best person in the trench next to them, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, height, weight, or eye colour. Arguments that women are physically weak, risk averse, and emotionally vulnerable – and thus should not fight in frontline units – fail to address that war is physically demanding, mentally terrifying, and emotionally scarring for soldiers of both genders. Since the United States announced the end of the combat ban for women, commentators have invoked an outdated concept of gender differences in an effort to show that women are not cut-out for combat. This article was originally published in the Globe and Mail on January 28, 2013.
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