NEARLY THERE, POINTS TO PONDER.....
If fact 1 is so tenuous why oh why are we subjected to the A course? For fun/sado-masochism? Of course not. It's to give us a mere taster of the physical/mental demands of being pursued and captured by the Hun.
If aircrew are not ever expected to carry out difficult physical infantry type tasks, why do we learn any of the stuff we do at Basic trg? (Section attacks, weapons trg? Admittedly the 'Assault' course at CWL is a joke, made so that the lowest common denominator could pass it.)
I believe that if "the selectors are doing their jobs right" as dictated by MOD policy, the women flying today are no better than some of those men turned away. 'They' need quotas filled to satisfy equal opportunity policies. Women, and ethnic minorities look fantastic at press conferences to combat the CRE's claims of discrimination in the mob. Who out there can deny this fact!
Yes, we need good pilots (why do you say better pilots? compared to who?), but not at the expense of lowering the bar for unsuitable candidates who lack strength/stamina/leadership!!
If we go too far down this road, we'll start training pilots with curvature of the spine, on the basis that they would make excellent multi-engine pilots due to their high aptitude scores!
Finally, I was not saying that it is at all likely that "£5m-a-time FJ crew would be sent to the front line to dig trenches or carry stretchers". That is not what their primary duty is.
But when your all-female graduate FJ crew is downed in the bondu and a platoon of infantry needs their help to get them ALL out of the sh*t, the guys who have women banned from their ranks on grounds of operational effectiveness would be pretty 'annoyed' IF said FJ crew could not yomp/carry/fight!
No- being annoyed is one thing, endangering the lives of comrades is another.
ANGRY LIZARD: I take it you are a sad lonely misfit whose greatest hobby is torturing chaps on Bodmin?