All in Army
Madeleine is a career officer with two uniforms: a green one (Army) and a blue one (Paris firefighters), but you won't find her water-hose in hand "because I'm not trained to fight fires," she says. But you may see her providing first aid at the scene of an accident whilst awaiting the doctor’s arrival because she has undergone extensive first responder training…
Caroline, born and bred in Paris, is the first member of her family to join the Armed Forces. “I'd been attracted since I was little by security professions,” she recounts in a calm, deep voice. “When I was thinking about what I wanted to do I was attracted by the academic side of the special Military School of Saint-Cyr (ESM St Cyr) because I wanted a rounded education….
What is a 22-year-old former jazz dancer from Reunion, who used to struggle against authority and who suffers from vertigo, doing in the army? Manon laughs, well aware that her career path so far may seem improbable. “It’s true that when I first heard that I had to do a commando initiation course I had real doubts. I mean, I get dizzy just standing on a table so I thought I’d never manage! But in fact, the military environment makes you surpass yourself all the time,” she remarks…
Anne-Laure thinks ahead and is well-organised. Enlisted in the French Army since 2015, she has just recently signed a second six-year contract, a year longer than her first one. Until earlier this year she was the only female gun-turret operator in the 1st Hunter Regiment. But, at the end of 2020, knowing full well that squeezing around the interior of a Leclerc tank is not practicable for a pregnant woman, she requested a job more suited to a personal situation she was planning for 2021. And it’s a good thing she did because she and her partner’s plans to start a family are coming to fruition. Baby Jules should make his appearance in early November…
Titaua (pronounce Titawa with emphasis on the first syllable) left her native island of Taha’a (between Tahiti and Bora-Bora in French Polynesia) at 19, swapping her sarong for army fatigues. Ten years later she was an NRBC mechanic (nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical) in the 1st hunter regiment (1er régiment de chasseurs). “I wasn't too interested in studying and wanted to do something instead of spending my days hanging around outdoors. On top of which I didn’t want to stay in Polynesia and wanted to be closer to my sister, who’d been adopted in France,” she says. Some of her acquaintances, who were in the reserves, “encouraged me, helped me with the application formalities and prepared me, especially for the physical part by making me run and do suspensions,” she laughs…
Julie, a meteorologist in the 3rd combat helicopter regiment laughs when I ask her why she didn’t join either the air force or the navy. “The army was an obvious choice for me because my grandfather and my father were both career soldiers,” she explains. But she knew nothing about meteorology and it was the armed forces recruitment centre (CIRFA) in Strasbourg “that first introduced me to the idea of becoming a meteorologist”, the young Alsatian recounts. She followed up on their suggestion to spend a week in meteorological immersion to discover what the job was about and she was hooked…
