It is understood the female soldier serving with 3 Medical regiment is from County Down, Northern Ireland.

BBC: Royal Marine and British soldier killed in Afghanistan

Now if you're a female soldier or a friend, a family member of one, what do you think about women in combat?

NPR: Women in Combat: Rules and Reality

But if the game has a plot line and gives the player-character a personality, motives and desires, should a female soldier behave differently than a man?

FORBES: Are Female Soldiers Coming to Video Games?

Troops have speculated about the issue for a while, but Zinda, who is a career counselor, said she has yet to have a female soldier approach her about joining a combat unit.

CNN: Former troops say time has come for women in combat units

Capt Head, who was based in Didcot in Oxfordshire, was the second female British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.

BBC: Capt Lisa Jade Head

Mario Blais, godfather of a female Canadian soldier recently killed in Afghanistan, told the Canadian Press it's time to pull the troops out.

CNN: In Canada, Afghanistan not 'forgotten'

In part, this has been helped by the success of a special-forces operation which, on Tuesday, rescued a 19-year-old female American soldier who was missing in action near Nasiriya.

ECONOMIST: Punching through to Baghdad

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is in pre-production, and the role of the female lead is currently up in the air.

FORBES: Scarlett Johansson to Appear in Captain America 2. So Where's the Black Widow Movie?