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Correspondence to Dr Jo Corbett, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2ER, UK; [email protected]
key messages
Women can now serve in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles, where they may be required to operate alongside men in hot environments.
The average female soldier may be at a thermoregulatory disadvantage in many hot environments compared to the average male soldier.
Much of the thermoregulatory difference between males and females is due to fitness and anthropometric differences rather than sex, per se.
It is possible that some of these differences may be lessened with appropriate gender free physical employment standards.
Much of the extant literature lacks ecological validity and there are notable gaps in our understanding of a number of key topics in this area."
Introduction
Following the publication of the 2016 Interim Report on the health risks to women in ground close combat (GCC) roles, the exclusion of women from GCC roles was lifted.1 As a consequence, women can now serve alongside men in these defence positions. At present, women make up around 9% of the British Army.2 It has been estimated that, in future, approximately 20 women per year will join the Royal Armoured Corps and 10 women per year will join the Infantry3; both of these units were previously affected by the exclusion.
It has been acknowledged that GCC roles can require intense physical activity.3 Moreover, given the variety of theatres in which the British Army operates it is likely that soldiers of both sexes will be exposed to hot conditions during GCC roles. It is, therefore, important to understand the extent to which biological sex impacts on an individual’s ability to operate effectively and safely in these environments. Indeed, the 2014 women in GCC review identified the need for further research to be conducted to better understand the physiological implications of the inclusion of women in GCC roles.3 Accordingly, this paper presents a brief overview of the current understanding of sex differences in the response to heat exposure, with a particular emphasis on exercise heat stress in the context of the military environment.
Physical characteristics
Within the general population women are typically shorter and lighter, with a smaller surface area than men and...