I was in the Air Force when being a woman
became an issue, if you like.
My male colleagues had been able to go out on patrol
with the regiment, for example.
And I couldn't do that.
It wasn't appropriate for a woman to be taken out on patrol.
The local community would have found
that very strange and inappropriate.
And therefore, it was not appropriate for me to do it.
And I felt very happy about that.
I didn't want to put myself in the situation
where someone else was going to look after me.
RAF chaplains, as all British chaplains,
are noncombatant.
We don't even carry a side arm for self protection
like the doctors do.
So I needed to be looked after by someone else
when I went out on the road
which I did occasionally.
Or if I was up in one of the aircraft.
There had to be really good reason
for me to be traveling out of the air station.
And I felt that very keenly,
that it wasn't a question of me laying down my life
if we were in an ambush,
but actually that potentially someone else
would lay down their life to protect me.
And I wasn't happy with that.
