The move to place women in combat roles in the ADF is a backward step.
Most people in the community according to opinion polls do not favour placing such positions.
As a general rule of thumb, most polls indicate that around 70 per cent of people are opposed to including women in front line combat roles.
Increasing the participation rate of women in the military does not increase efficiency, contrary to the claims of some.
It is humbug to suggest that gender does not matter, and purely incidental.
Research down in Europe and the US, clearly shows that women in combat roles lower battle efficiency and male cohesion within combatant units.
I thought modern society was trying to shield women from domestic violence and such like?
Yet here we are wanting to place women in harm's way. It doesn't add up.
And, besides, with women having lower unemployment rates than men, why the rush to get women into a traditional male role?
With men making up the majority of the unemployed, the military should be looking at ways of getting more men -and not women - into the Army.
Alan Barron
Grovedale