The British Army celebrated having a woman in every one of theirs ranks for the first time this year.
There are 18 ranks in the British Army, ranging from Recruit to Four-Star General and, as of 8 March, there is now a woman in every single rank.
Women have only been allowed to serve alongside men in all roles in the military since 2018, so this marks a significant moment in the Army’s history.
General Sir Roly Walker DSO ADC Gen, Chief of the General Staff, said: “A woman in every rank should now be the norm, not the exception.
“Our responsibility is clear: to continue removing barriers and to build an Army where talent can thrive at every level, and where anyone who can serve the nation is able to fulfil their potential.”
The Women’s Royal Army Corps began in 1949, with their ranks formally aligned with the British Army only in 1952 and then disbanded in 1992.
The National Army Museum has an online piece on the history of women in the Army with a clear timeline of their history.
It reads: “Following the disbandment of the WRAC in 1992, women were absorbed into the rest of the Army.
“But they were still largely restricted to support and medical positions.”
This highlights how much the role of women in the British Army has changed in the last 34 years.
New recruit Megan Stewart said: “I like the way that we are celebrating women because it is different now for women in the Army.
“The future looks so exciting.”
More broadly across the British forces, women have been able to apply for all combat roles since 2018.
Since then, figures show that over 900 women have applied to be a Royal Marine – with zero succeeding to complete the 32 weeks of training and tests.
The Royal Navy site states: “Given the nature and rigours of training, and the Green Beret life that follows it, joining the Royal Marines Commandos as a woman naturally brings up certain questions.”
To become a Royal Marine, there is a gender-free training programme meaning women and men are expected to meet the same standards of fitness and complete the same training and tests.
The 2018 change and the British Army’s breadth of female roles are certainly positive, but women are not represented in all areas of the British Forces yet.
In December 2021, the House of Commons published a report on Women in the Armed Forces which included targets around female recruitment.
It said: “Recruitment of women is critical to all the Armed Forces and we recognise the need for a step change in our ambition.
“We will therefore aim to more than double our inflow of women into the Armed Forces, setting a Level of Ambition of 30% inflow by 2030.”
As of March 2025, 11.9% of the UK Regular Forces were female and 15.9% of the Future Reserves 2020 were female.
Additionally, the overall intake of women into the Armed Forces in the year up to 1 March 2025 was actually down 0.4% on the year before.
Despite these figures, the recent news about women being at every rank of the British Army for the first time should hopefully signal the Army is to become even more inclusive in the years to come.
Featured image credit: Chris Robert via Unsplash
