Contributed photos
LEFT: Private Kamesha Walters explains that the military provides a steady income for many women.
RIGHT: Private Simone Smith explaining that being a woman never proved an obstacle to being a member of the military.

Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

In the military, where rank determines the respect you receive, there is no time for a battle of the sexes.

"There was not any special treatment; we had to do the running, we had to do the repelling, we had to do the rolling - it was intense," said Private Kamesha Walters from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), describing her basic training four years ago. As a reserve soldier, she trained on weekends for nine months.

While women are accepted in all other divisions of the army, 2004 was the first year that they were admitted into the reserves, one of the JDF's infantry battalions commonly called foot soldiers.

In Jamaica, under normal circumstances, female infantry soldiers are not sent out to patrol the streets. Despite th which many females have reached in the JDF, a man would still be placed on front-line duty before a woman, a practice which is not uncommon in armies across the world.

Sensitive circumstances

"It's not a normal practice," according to Major Charlene Steer, however, there are some sensitive circumstances under which female soldiers have to be included in the troop, for instance, when female civilians need to be searched. Sometimes, it can be difficult for the public to differentiate women from men when in camouflage, as they all tend to look the same.

Private Walters was among that first group of women to be accepted into the reserves. She admits it was purely by chance that she decided to join, she accompanied her brother on the recruitment process and decided to give it a try.

She recounted an incident that highlighted the reality of being in the army.

experience

"A couple of my female compatriots, they went on the road to get the experience, they went into Spanish Town and I was sort of shocked for them because they came under fire," Private Walters said. However, if needed for front-line, the women are willing, ready and able.

"I did think about it before I joined, just in case it happened that I have to work on the front-line, I'm prepared," said Sergeant Charmaine Hanlon, 37, who wanted to be in the army since she was a child. While Sergeant Hanlon's position as aircraft maintenance technician in the Air Wing would make her one of the last persons to serve in this manner, her training does not exclude her from the possibility.

She is an expert markswoman who has won various medals in JDF's march and shoot competition. "It's my hobby," she said with a shy smile. So if shooting is her hobby, then repairing aircrafts is her passion. She began her military career as a clerk, before becoming a technician, a male dominated field. Sergeant Hanlon admits to feeling some pride at being one of the few women in her field, but her gender is not some-thing she is often reminded of.

"We're just seen as technicians," she added. Private Simone Clark, a bright eyed 22-year-old, proudly admits that she joined the reserves for the challenge.

"It seemed pretty interesting and exciting and I wanted to offer myself that challenge to see if I could physically do it," Private Clarke said, and after one year, the prep school teacher now wants to someday transfer to the officer corps.

Easy come

"I don't like things that come too easy," explained Private Clarke, who pursued her studies at Mico Teacher's College while training. "Being a woman in the army you get no special treatment", Private Clarke believes that if anything they are sometimes forced to do more, might anyone think they were receiving special treatment.