Japan's First Female Paratrooper
On March 16th, Sgt. Reina Hashiba became Japan's first paratrooper, joining the Ground Self-Defense Force's 1st Airborne Brigade. Members of this elite unit are trained to parachute near enemy lines from heights of 300 meters or more. The bar on women joining the unit was lifted in 2017, but physical fitness requirements remained the same as men. During the five-week training course, Sgt. Hashiba carried a load of 60 kilograms, which included a parachute and a rifle, and parachuted from aircraft five times. Congratulations Sgt. Hashiba!
The number of women in the Self-Defense Forces has been rising in Japan. At the end of 2018, there were about 16,000 female members, accounting for 7 percent of the total of 226,000. This seems like a very low percentage. I don't know what the percentage of women in the military is in the United States.
3 comments:
Well done to this fabulous lady
Congratulations to this brave woman. To me the Japanese society has always been patriarchal so I guess that would take a long time for women to be accepted in roles typically seen as men's.
Well done! I think this (or a variation of it) is the best way to deal with 'men only'/'women only' jobs - if carrying these 60kg is neccessary to do the job, great! Just let every woman join who can do it.
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