Australian soldiers are being encouraged to embrace the characteristics of fictional superheroes including Batman and Xena the Warrior Princess.

A 237-page paper published by the Australian Defence Force says the army should aim to be the “home of Xena personalities”.

“Don’t be scared of Xena. Hercules is not scared of Xena,” Major Elizabeth Boulton writes in the report.

The superhero references went further, with the paper suggesting the army adopt the principles Batman used when he formed the Justice League “super team”.

But it doesn’t end there, with Major Boulton suggesting different physical standards should apply to all-female combat units.

In terms of the references to superhero characters, Senator Jim Molan agrees “it is primary school stuff”.

But when it comes to women in combat roles within the army, the former Major General returns to comments made by the army’s boss last week.

“What he said was most women do not seek to serve in the infantry because the infantry is a particular type of service,” Senator Molan says.

“It’s units which are optimised for close-quarter killing.  It is a level of physical activity which most civilians would be blown away with.”

Click PLAY below to hear from Senator Jim Molan

Former defence force member Bernard Gaynor is slamming the latest document as “peak insanity”.

“It’s craziness,” he tells Ben Fordham.

“Defence’s pursuit of political correctness means that it’s now lost all touch with reality.”

Click PLAY below to hear from Bernard Gaynor

Chris Smith also isn’t shy about giving his thoughts on the army’s paper, saying the “PC warriors are at it again”.

“I seriously thought I was reading a guide for primary school kids to stop them from being mean to each other. Not a serious discussion report for the armed forces of Australia.

“There’s almost 300 pages of this stuff. She’s reduced our bravest citizens to comic book characters!”

Click PLAY below to hear Chris Smith’s thoughts