Did you know there are 2 different physical standards in the US Army & Israeli Army?

Because of these:

“….Ms. Gutmann offers a partial catalogue: the female soldier "is, on average, about five inches shorter than the male soldier, has half the upper body strength, lower aerobic capacity and 37 percent less muscle mass. She has a lighter skeleton, which may mean, for instance, that she won't be able to 'pull G forces' as reliably in a fighter plane. She cannot pee standing up ... She tends, particularly if she is under the age of 30 (as are 60 percent of military personnel) to get pregnant."

As the Strategic Review (Spring, 1997) points out, these differences have had an adverse impact on the U.S. military at a time when continuing austerity in the defense budget is driving us toward a smaller and leaner force, one that will have to meet its obligations by increased emphasis on competence and readiness. For instance, women suffer a higher rate of attrition than men and, because of the turnover, are a more costly investment. And women are four times more likely to report ill. The percentage of women medically non-available at any time is twice that of men. Obviously, if you are ill, someone must care for you; if you can't do your job, someone else must do it for you. More, only ten percent of the women can meet all of the minimum physical requirements for 75 percent of the jobs in the Army. Women may be able to drive five-ton trucks, but they need a man's help if they must change the tires. Women can be assigned to a field artillery unit, but often can't handle the heavy ammunition.

In the course of a year, at least ten percent (and up to 17 percent) of service women become pregnant. In certain locales, the figure is even higher. James Webb notes that when he was Secretary of the Navy in 1988, 51 percent of single Air Force women and 48 percent of single Navy women stationed in Iceland were pregnant. From the beginning of the U.S. deployment to Bosnia in December 1995 until July 1996, a woman had to be evacuated for pregnancy approximately every three days. As I write, a total of 118 have been evacuated from Bosnia…”

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Hinh/My%20Documents/Mothers%20in%20Combat%20Boots,%20by%20Mackubin%20T.%20Owens.htm

“…Males were taller, heavier, had longer femurs and tibia, had

stronger quadriceps, and had lower percent body fat, and a

lower percentage had external hip rotation above 65- than

both female groups. Thirty-eight percent of the Karakal

females, 36% of the males, and 29% of the controls reported

smoking. There was no statistically significant difference

in the smoking history between the three groups

when analyzed for percentage of smokers and pack years of

smoking. No statistically significant difference was found

between the menstrual status of the female recruits who

sustained stress fractures and those who did not.

During basic training, 12 females sustained stress fractures.

None of the males or controls sustained stress fractures.

The difference between the Karakal male and the

female recruits was statistically significant…”

Source:

Overuse Injuries in Female Infantry Recruits

during Low-Intensity Basic Training

AHARON FINESTONE1, CHARLES MILGROM2, RACHEL EVANS3, RAN YANOVICH4,5,

NAAMA CONSTANTINI2, and DANIEL S. MORAN4,5

1The Foot and Ankle Unit, Orthopaedic Department, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zeriffin; 2Department of Orthopaedic

Surgery, The Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, ISRAEL; 3Bone Health Research

Program, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Military Performance Division, Natick, MA; 4Heller

Institute of Medical Research.