|
Unit Notice Board
DUE NOTICE FOR THE FEMALE…
…First Female Infantry Officer Regular Force– 2Lt Nadine P Notice By Second Lieutenant Marie Henry
HQ JDF (Civ/Mil Co-op) Hailing from the parish of St Catherine, the 5′ 4"Nadine Patrice Notice joined the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in January 2007 with the intention of serving at the Medical Reception Station (MRS), possibly as a springboard for entering the medical faculty, but soon would be the first female officer in the regular force to be posted to The Jamaica Regiment. Shortly after her return from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England, Second Lieutenant Nadine Notice, with a keen sense of purpose, was preparing herself, through the Support and Services Battalion Standing Orders, for MRS. But due course would have it otherwise. This is historic! Never has the Jamaica Defence Force had a female Infanteer Officer. Since the integration of females in the Force in 1976, the debate has survived as to a woman’s place in the military, primarily because she is not seen as a prime candidate for infantry-type duties, chief among them being deployed in operations or simply put, ‘patrolling the streets’. A Female…posted to the Regiment, how did that happen? “I know the possibility existed because my basic officer course was infantry-type training but this was somewhat far off because there has never been a female in the Regiment,” Nadine explained. It is enough and very significant that women are in the military but to be integrated in an area which the males have monopolized for decades is worth noticing. The first question that many would ask is, what is it like for a female in a male’s domain? For Miss Notice, she is assimilating and fitting in very well and said the males are accommodating her. “The males are very kind and friendly to me; they don’t treat me any different. I sometimes get to play football with them.” When asked what her initial experience was like, she hastened to point out that, “I don’t think there was a gender issue.” So what was it? “Soldiers will try to challenge your authority but once you set your standards they will know what you are about,” she explained. Sergeant Hugh Blake, Orderly Sergeant, the Second Battalion The Jamaica Regiment Headquarters, said that taking instructions from a young female officer is nothing new to him because he spent over 17 years at Headquarters JDF where in the early part of his career as a private he worked with female Second Lieutenants such as 2Lt C A Robinson (now Major Steer). “Miss Notice is very thorough and at times it might appear as if she is trying to prove her ability.” Private Orville Swearing, who also serves at the Battalion HQ, said that being in the male dominated environment Miss Notice comes off a bit forceful. It is learnt that when on duty, Miss Notice wakes him up very early to prepare the Situation Report (Sitrep). Notice believes that the male Infanteers are warming up to the reality of having a female around them, not only when they visit the rest of the Force but now in their “back yard”. “It is a novel experience to be working with the first female Infanteer,” said Officer Commanding (OC), Headquarter Company, 2JR, Major Rohan Johnson. He said ‘infanteer’ with reservations as he explained that whilst 2Lt N Notice is posted to 2JR, she is not really employed in a field that defines her as an infanteer. “The real mettle of an infanteer is being a Platoon Commander,” he added. But Miss Notice seems to understand this quite well. “The things that they [the males] will do, such as patrolling and commanding a platoon, I don’t get the opportunity to do.” She explained that she is not inducted into the system like a real infantry officer. “Usually [the case for the males] as a Second Lieutenant you would start at the level of Platoon Commander and then you get to Staff Officer and so on. But I started as a Staff Officer,” she continued. She is presently the Regimental Signal Officer for 2 JR and has taken on a Signal Platoon with strength of thirty-two (32) men. She said that she hopes to be given the opportunity to go on operations before she leaves the Regiment. Her OC Major Rohan Johnson has all the confidence in her and believes that she will reach places in the Infantry. He said that Miss Notice has handled herself extremely well in integrating and accepting the traditions unique only to the Infantry. “Based on her posture she is more than capable of leading a platoon in real time deployment,” he expressed. Major Johnson said however, that this will not happen until Headquarters Jamaica Defence Force (HQ JDF) promulgates a policy that will allow females to be deployed on the street. He does not see this far in coming though, as he highlighted that given the transformed Headquarters through the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) females could be deployed. Well, having Notice in the Infantry is certainly a step in that direction. It is not certain as to when it will happen but it sure looks promising. The Officer Commanding pointed to an important hurdle that must also be cleared before this could succeed. “The Jamaican public must be prepared to accept that her daughter could be deployed in combat and come under gun fire.” That is the reality; will they accept? He said that the time for female deployment will become known when all these are in place. When asked if he could see Nadine Notice as an officer and not attach a gender to her (like what the males enjoy), Major Johnson said that in the Infantry they guard their uniqueness of being an all-male unit. “I see her as a female. She is not gender-neutral.” He expressed however, that he sees Notice as being on par with the male officers in terms of her performance. In the Infantry she will be noticed as a female and not just a person. The 24-year-old Nadine Patrice Notice was born in Spanish Town and now lives in Old Harbour, St Catherine. After joining the Army in January 2007, Nadine Notice was sent on a basic officer training course by May 2007 at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in April 2008. Second Lieutenant Nadine Notice (then Officer Cadet) distinguished herself at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where she walked away with three top awards at the Sovereign’s Parade (passing out ceremony for Officer Cadets who have successfully completed Sandhurst’s commissioning course). She copped the Commandant’s Merit Prize for exceptional achievement during the commissioning course; the HRH Prince Saud Abdullah Prize awarded to the Overseas Cadet with the best aggregate marks on academic subjects; and the Communications and Management Studies Prize. The Parade was presided over by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, representing Her Majesty The Queen. 2Lt Nadine Notice hopes that within the next ten (10) years the system allows for females to be commanders. “I am comfortable being RSO but my heart is still in medicine. If I should be here for another ten (10) years, I would love to be a company commander. This should be interesting,” she smiled.
|
