Slayer4000X2008
That guy from Canada
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SYDNEY, Australia — Australia’s female soldiers will soon be able to serve in all front-line combat roles, the government announced on Tuesday.
The move will make Australia one of a handful of countries that allow women to serve alongside their male counterparts in some of the most dangerous roles in modern warfare, including Special Forces units in Afghanistan.
The announcement by Defense Minister Stephen Smith that the last positions that had remained closed to women — including the Special Forces, infantry and some army artillery roles — would be opened is the biggest shakeup of the country’s armed forces in more than a decade.
Mr. Smith proposed dropping the restrictions in April amid the fallout from a series of military scandals at home and abroad. In the most notorious case, a male cadet at the elite Australian Defense Force Academy was caught streaming video of himself having sex with a female cadet to his friends via Skype without her knowledge.
The move is supported by Prime Minster Julia Gillard, the country’s first female leader.
“We have an Australian Army that’s been going for 110 years, an Australian Navy that’s been going formally for 100 years, and an Australian Air Force that’s been going for 90 years, and last night, we resolved to remove the final restrictions on the capacity of women to serve in front-line combat roles,” Mr. Smith said in the capital, Canberra. “In the future, your role in the defense force will be determined on your ability, not on the basis of your sex.”
www.nytimes.com
The move will make Australia one of a handful of countries that allow women to serve alongside their male counterparts in some of the most dangerous roles in modern warfare, including Special Forces units in Afghanistan.
The announcement by Defense Minister Stephen Smith that the last positions that had remained closed to women — including the Special Forces, infantry and some army artillery roles — would be opened is the biggest shakeup of the country’s armed forces in more than a decade.
Mr. Smith proposed dropping the restrictions in April amid the fallout from a series of military scandals at home and abroad. In the most notorious case, a male cadet at the elite Australian Defense Force Academy was caught streaming video of himself having sex with a female cadet to his friends via Skype without her knowledge.
The move is supported by Prime Minster Julia Gillard, the country’s first female leader.
“We have an Australian Army that’s been going for 110 years, an Australian Navy that’s been going formally for 100 years, and an Australian Air Force that’s been going for 90 years, and last night, we resolved to remove the final restrictions on the capacity of women to serve in front-line combat roles,” Mr. Smith said in the capital, Canberra. “In the future, your role in the defense force will be determined on your ability, not on the basis of your sex.”
Australia Says It Will Open Combat Roles to Women (Published 2011)
Australia is the fourth country in the world to allow women to serve alongside men in some of the most dangerous roles in modern warfare.
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