A British army medical board was checking Thursday to see if the force's first transsexual sergeant major was fit enough to be a soldier.
Joseph Rushton, a 37-year-old soldier who started taking hormone treatment to become a woman nearly two years ago, has said he believed he would stay in the army.But defense officials said the medical board had to determine whether Rushton met the army's fitness standards.
"We have no policy on transsexuals. . . but we have to determine if he's fit to carry on serving," a defense official said.
He said a sex change and the physiological alterations Rushton has already undergone in his battle to become a woman could make him fail the army's minimum standard for fitness.
Rushton, who plans to become Joanne in the new year after a sex change, earlier said the army had been "incredibly understanding."
"I'm considered a first class soldier - I can blow up bridges, ski down mountains and free fall from the skies. But in my heart I just want to be a woman," he said.
The soldier, who has been married four times and has one son, could be discharged from the army on medical grounds if he does not meet army standards.