- Just 130 women have successfully joined front-line combat units since 2018
An army diversity drive to enlist more women into front-line fighting units has backfired after only 10 female recruits started infantry or Royal Armoured Corps basic training last year.
The figures have led to the effort being branded a ‘very costly, damaging and futile exercise in political correctness’ by a defence chief.
Just 15 female soldiers completed basic training for either infantry or tank units between January and September 2023, a freedom of information request has revealed. While almost half of those who began the training since 2019 failed to complete the course.
The data also showed that fewer than five trained female soldiers transferred into either the armoured corps or the infantry from other Army units, while no female recruits have passed Royal Marines training, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
In all, 85 women have joined the infantry while 45 entered the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) in five years, MoD figures claimed. It means that out of the 24,000 tank or infantry personnel in the Army, just 130 are female – 0.5 per cent of total force.
Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British military commander in Afghanistan, lashed out at the data, and said having a ‘tiny minority’ of women in ‘pretty much all-male units’ was ‘counterproductive and harmful to morale and combat effectiveness’.
He told the Telegraph: ‘The whole thing will turn out to be a very costly, damaging and futile exercise in political correctness – funded of course by the taxpayer. The Army did not want this, but it was forced on them by politically correct politicians.’
Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced in 2018 all front-line roles would be open to women – including positions in the special forces, Royal Marines, infantry and tank units. Mr Williamson was later sacked in 2019.
But announcing the plan during a land power demonstration on Salisbury Plain, Mr Williamson said opening up ‘all combat roles’ to woman would make the armed forces a ‘more modern employer’.
In October 2022, it was revealed that combat Medic Private Addy Carter had become one of the first female soldier to pass a gruelling selection course to join Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment.
Aged just 21 at the time, she was one of only 59 out of 98 candidates to successfully battle through the All Arms Pre-Parachute Selection course, to wear the coveted maroon beret.
She followed in the footsteps of Captain Rosie Wild, of the Royal Artillery, who passed the All Arms Pre-Parachute Selection, more commonly known as ‘P company’ – the toughest military selection course outside the Special Forces – in 2020.
Current Defence Secretary Grant Shapps launched his own offensive to enlist more women into armed forces last month, as he sought to tackle a recruitment crisis plaguing the military.
Mr Shapps said he was worried the make-up of the military did not reflect wider society and insisted more should be done to attract and retain women.
His comments come amid a worsening crisis in the nation’s rapidly shrinking armed forces, with the pace of troops leaving the service outstripping the numbers of new recruits coming into it.
So desperate is the situation, military defence chiefs have ordered hundreds of soldiers to move from front line roles and man recruitment offices to help entice more young Brits to enlist.
Discussing his plans to tackle the crisis, Mr Shapps said: ‘Something which I’m extremely passionate about is actually having a military which should represent our country as it is today.
‘It can’t be right that our military still only has 11 or 12 per cent women, for example, when you make up half the population.’
Women make up just a fraction of Britain’s military, comprising about 11.3 per cent of the whole force. Recent figures showed 13.8 per cent of all officers in the forces were female. However, there were just 24 women holding top positions.
The RAF has the biggest representation, with 16 per cent of its personnel being female. In the Royal Navy the figure is 13 per cent. For the Army it’s just 10.3 per cent.
The armed forces have been struck by a series of scandals, with women targeted by sexual predators within their ranks – with victims and charities warning of a ‘toxic culture’ of misogyny and rape within the military.
In October 2022, the Navy was forced to launch a probe into allegations of rape threats and sexual assault on Britain’s nuclear submarines, while two Red Arrows pilots were sacked after evidence of a ‘toxic culture’ emerged that same year.
In December, young female members of the scandal-hit Red Arrows spoke out and revealed how they were warned by male colleagues they could become a ‘notch on a crew member’s bedpost’ of some of their more predatory comrades.
Colonel Philip Ingram, a former officer in British military intelligence, said scandals like these were putting women off joining, with targets for the RAC and infantry remaining ‘totally unachievable’ while the sexual abuse continues to plague units.
‘The MoD are still playing at equality, and misogyny remains rife and this is reflected in recruitment,’ the retired spymaster told the Telegraph.
The MoD said it aims to boost the number of female troops in the Army so it makes up 30 per cent of the Army – about 22,000 personnel – by 2030.
An MoD spokesman added: ‘All roles in our Armed Forces are open to women – including ground close combat and armoured roles – because we want to recruit the best people to serve the country. This is about opportunity, fairness and maximising the potential pool of talent.
‘Anyone who has the drive and capability to succeed will get the chance to do so.’
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Tom Cotterill
