The British Army is to scrap role titles like “rifleman” and “infantryman” for the more gender-neutral “infantry soldier” and “infanteer”.
The briefing document, seen by the Mail on Sunday, also said that any training manuals with “gender specific” language will have to be thrown out to not be exclusionary to women recruits.
“Gender specific terms are to be removed from all doctrine, policy, orders and instructions at the SCHINF [School of Infantry] and their use discouraged,” the Doctrine and Concepts policy document reads.
“The IBS [Infantry Battle School, Brecon, Wales] is to ensure gender specific terms are removed from the next edition of Infantry Platoon Tactics and the Brecon Battle Book,” it adds.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed the changes to the tabloid, but said they will not affect historic rank titles such as “Guardsman”.
This sweeping cultural and training changes come after Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson lifted restrictions on women joining combat and Special Forces units in October.
One soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “‘We’ve paid for adverts, built new barrack blocks, and even changed how we are supposed to speak and what we read.
“But the truth is that at officer level and among women already serving, they’re simply not interested in joining the infantry.”
The British armed forces have doubled down in their efforts to pander to identity politics, with the Army launching a series of ad campaigns to increase the number of Muslim and LGBT recruits.
Serving soldiers were even told by top brass that if they demonstrated “negative opinions” about the politically correct ads they could face disciplinary action.
The Army also announced in October that it would be investigating soldiers who had appeared in a photograph with English Defence League founder turned citizen journalist and anti-Islamisation activist Tommy Robinson, saying the young squaddies could be “in breach of the Army’s values and standards.”
Breitbart London reported this month that the Army had been excessively proud of winning the “race for diversity” against the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy by increasing the proportion of BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) personnel in their ranks.
Defence Secretary Williamson, who has no military experience, insisted: “Diversity and inclusion is critical to our success and will give us the operational edge we need.”