Overall, 9,348 women serve in the Canadian Armed Forces, 14 per cent of all personnel. The military says 2.4 percent of personnel in combat units are women - 145 officers and 209 enlisted soldiers. They were going to be there anyway so we just got over it and it wasn't an issue to integrate them into units." Nowadays, he said, soldiers take the presence of female combatants in stride. "It was a shock at first and we overreacted at first, but we learned to adapt and work with them. Stapleford, who had enlisted in the Canadian infantry in 1975, said some initially questioned whether women were up to the task physically and whether the men would feel obliged to protect them. The submarine ban fell three years later.Ĭhief Warrant Officer A.P. Jennie Carignan, who enlisted in 1986.įinal word came in a 1989 ruling by Canada's Human Rights Commission ordering women to be admitted to all combat roles except aboard submarines. "There was definitely heated discussion among my peers whether we should be there" in combat, said Lt. that have opened their fighting ranks to female soldiers.Ĭanada's change didn't come easily. But Canada remains in the small group of countries - including Israel, France, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and now the U.S. Nichola Goddard, the first Canadian woman to be killed in action since her country's 1989 decision to admit women soldiers into combat.įor a nation already divided about participating in the American-led Afghanistan war, Goddard's death was a particular shock, and two more Canadian women have since died in combat. TORONTO (AP) - On May 17, 2006, in a firefight with Afghan Taliban insurgents, Canadian forces lost an artillery officer hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade. Over 9%2C000 women serve in Canadian Armed Forces.
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