Combat Engineer Reservist As a Woman?

[LC6831]

I've been looking into joining the reserves for quite a while now, however out of the trades that the closest units offer I find Combat Engineer to be the most interesting.

My main question is if I'd be able to succeed in that trade. I do quite a bit of physical activity and I'm always up for a challenge but I'm honestly afraid of not being able to contribute equally to the team just because of my gender.

I can lift 5x a week and do tons of cardio and I still won't be able to match the strength of a man who's never touched a weight in his life.
Everything I've heard about the trade is that it's extremely physical, and I can definitely see that if you're putting bridges together.

I still have quite a few months till I plan to start my paperwork.. but it's just something I've been thinking about

 

[daftandbarmy]

I've been looking into joining the reserves for quite a while now, however out of the trades that the closest units offer I find Combat Engineer to be the most interesting.

My main question is if I'd be able to succeed in that trade. I do quite a bit of physical activity and I'm always up for a challenge but I'm honestly afraid of not being able to contribute equally to the team just because of my gender.

I can lift 5x a week and do tons of cardio and I still won't be able to match the strength of a man who's never touched a weight in his life.
Everything I've heard about the trade is that it's extremely physical, and I can definitely see that if you're putting bridges together.

I still have quite a few months till I plan to start my paperwork.. but it's just something I've been thinking about

Only if you want to be the Chief of Defense staff

 

[SeaKingTacco]

What D&B is saying is that the current CDS is a woman and a combat engineer.

 

[oldfart76]

I've been looking into joining the reserves for quite a while now, however out of the trades that the closest units offer I find Combat Engineer to be the most interesting.

My main question is if I'd be able to succeed in that trade. I do quite a bit of physical activity and I'm always up for a challenge but I'm honestly afraid of not being able to contribute equally to the team just because of my gender.

I can lift 5x a week and do tons of cardio and I still won't be able to match the strength of a man who's never touched a weight in his life.
Everything I've heard about the trade is that it's extremely physical, and I can definitely see that if you're putting bridges together.

I still have quite a few months till I plan to start my paperwork.. but it's just something I've been thinking about

I was in the Combat Engineer reserves back in the 90's. The bridge building will be the hardest part. I seem to recall it was a 4 man lift on most bridge pieces and they weighed 400lbs. So that means doing a 100lbs deadlift and walking with it multiple times over hours of construction. (I found a picture of US combat engineers doing the same thing and attached it) On my course there were also pull up bars outside of every building, including the washrooms, we were expected to do at least 3 pullups each time we went in or out. You'll be working on your upper body strength constantly As miserable as parts of the training was, there was moments of "wow" too. At the time, my training was in Chilliwack and the explosive range was up in the mountains, those were the best days, when you could soak in the view while watching a shockwave from a c4 explosion make a concrete block disappear or make a steel I-beam peal back like a banana.

We had two women on my QL3 course and they succeeded. All that said, If you're looking for a challenge and you think you can do it... go for it.