Pen blwydd hapus, thlroz and <user site="livejournal.com" user=

[sff_corgi_lj]

Your difference in age is divisible by a unit of decades, but I won't say which.

Instead of cake, and with appropriate timing (i.e., I just found out about it), I give you an Act of Progress (partial quote):

After two centuries, Nepal women train for Gurkhas
Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:05AM BST

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - More than 1,500 Nepali women have signed up with private firms to train for a possible career with the British army after it allowed them to join the Brigade of Gurkhas for the first time in nearly two centuries....

Gurkha soldiers, a tribe from Nepal's Himalayan foothills known for their fierce combat abilities, have been serving in the British army since 1815. But until now, men have only been allowed to join.

"There is great interest among women about the recruitment and this will only go up," said Prem Prakash Nemwang, a former Gurkha who runs a course in Dharan, a few hours drive east of Kathmandu....

British officials said practical issues such as recruitment and selection standards needed to be settled and actual recruitment could take time.

"I know it is very good for my career," said Bunita Gurung, 19, taking a course in the resort town of Pokhara in west Nepal. "I want to be a soldier in the British army."

Gurung, a management student, was inspired to look for a career in the British army by her father, who is a former Gurkha.

Twenty-year-old undergraduate Sirjana Rana said she would barely get $150 (75 pounds) a month in Nepal after completing her studies. But if she joined the British army now her wages could be 10 times higher, Rana said.

"This is the first opportunity for us and the first is always auspicious. I don't want to miss it," Rana said.

"I want to build my own career and lead an independent life without depending on others," she said....

Mountainous Nepal, tucked between China and India, is one of the world's 10 poorest countries. A decade-long Maoist insurgency and years of political turmoil wrecked industries and businesses. 

Remittances from Nepalis working abroad, including the Gurkhas, amount to more than $1.1 billion every year.

There are about 3,400 Nepalis in the Brigade of Gurkhas who have fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.

And bits from the Guardian:

Women set to join the Gurkhas

...Around 50 Nepalese women will be recruited over the next few months for a pilot entry scheme. The move follows a change in Ministry of Defence recruitment laws that take into account sex discrimination regulations....

'...Many of them aren't being taken seriously by the men, who see them as weak, but I disagree. These women work as porters climbing the Himalayas. They are incredibly fit. There is no reason they can't take their places alongside the men.'

During an intense three-week assessment period, potential female recruits will also have to complete the infamous doko, one of the most arduous military selection tests in the world. Only those recruits who are fit enough to run 5km up the foothills of the Himalayas while carrying 35kg of rocks on their back will be deemed eligible for the British army.

...During the two World Wars, the Gurkhas suffered 43,000 casualties and won 26 Victoria Crosses, more than any other regiment.

Comments

[annechen-melo.livejournal.com]

As long as they do not alter the intake requirements, I say it is about time! My position has always been if someone can do the job, let them, but don't make it easier just to meet a quota. I know there are women out there who cam be most excellent special forces of any stripe, but i also know I am not one of them. More power to them, I say!

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Apparently not, from one of the comments - they get to run uphill carrying a small-child's-worth of rocks, too.

I bet they'll end up even scarier than the men. I have the impression that a lot of what makes the Gurkhas Gurkhas doesn't have to do with upper-body strength.

[blueeyedtigress.livejournal.com]

Wow. Interesting times. Good on 'em, them as gets in! That unit is legendary ......

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

It'll be pretty exciting to see the first batch in uniform. :)

[cerrberus.livejournal.com]

Hey- what you mean listless? You gots LJ, you gots GG, you gots SCA, & manymany things of which I'm unaware. Mind you, you may be languid or lethargic.