Army considers scrapping ranks including Guardsman and Rifleman because they are too masculine.
In an attempt to make regiments more inclusive, General Sir Patrick Sanders is poised to break hundreds of years of battlefield tradition. DailyMail reports.
Historic titles used by world-renowned Guards regiments and even his own regiment, the Rifles, could be ditched in favour of gender-neutral ranks.
The step has been prompted by women soldiers telling General Sir Patrick that masculine titles make them feel excluded.
But other women, serving in previously male-only regiments, are leading a backlash against the plan.
At a gathering of women soldiers, a corporal in the Rifles told Sir Patrick ‘don’t you dare take my rank of Rifleman, I’m proud of it’.
Sir Patrick’s final decision, expected soon, also has implications for the Royal Navy.
If the Army goes gender-neutral, the Navy could be forced to abandon historic ranks such as ‘midshipman’ and ‘seaman’.
The Royal Air Force quietly scrapped the last of its gender-specific ranks last year – aircraftsman was replaced by air specialist.
It is not clear what the Army and Navy terms might be replaced by.
Sir Patrick, Chief of the General Staff, discussed the acutely divisive issue on the Centre for Army Leadership podcast.
He said as it was nations, rather than armies, which fight wars, it was essential the make-up of the Armed Forces reflected society.
The Army’s recent failures to meet female representation targets has also convinced senior officers they must do much more.
Sir Patrick said: ‘If you want to tap into people’s potential, people have to feel they can be themselves.’
Asked whether gender-specific ranks could cause exclusion, he said: ‘We are having precisely these conversations.
‘When I sat down with the Army Servicewomen’s Network the other day I heard two things.’
A female section commander in a Rifles battalion said to me: ‘Don’t you dare take this rank away from me, because I am proud to be a Rifleman, that’s my rank as much as it is yours’.
‘But I also hear from a lot of women [that] these are the small things which exclude. There is no getting away from it, Rifleman and Guardsman are masculine appointments and titles.’
Sir Patrick also suggested those women who are in favour of holding on to the historic ranks may actually favour change, but fear being isolated for saying so.
He added: ‘Are they just saying that because they don’t want to rock the boat? They don’t want to be seen to be the ones to unpick it? It is something we need to think really, really carefully [about].’
