was as the first female with the RAF regiment
out on the ground.
So it was like a ground paramedic going 'round on patrols
and doing everything that they did.
And it was a massive thing to get a female onto that
and the main stress was before I went
because of people saying,
"Oh you can't do that.
"We can't have a female, we can't have this,
"we can't have that."
And I'm like why?
You know, and for me I pretty stubborn.
I was like, "I wanna do it,
"I wanna prove that we can do it."
And as personal as an achievement for me
but to prove to others that actually it doesn't matter
what you've got between your legs,
if you can do a job, you're fit enough and agile enough
and in the right frame of mind you can do anything you want.
So I was pushing and pushing hard.
I was working with the regiment guys doing foot patrols,
doing my fitness tests, getting up to the standard
and beyond where I needed to be.
So that I could continue with the foot patrols
and I wasn't a hindrance to anybody.
And I had to say to the powers that be,
"We can do this."
'Cause they were like,
"Oh you'll need a separate admin area won't you?
"You'll need a separate tent."
You don't have tents in the middle of Afghan,
you put your bed out and that's it.
Your little, mozzie tent and that's you.
So and you your shelter sheet up if need be.
And that's it.
So if the other lads were walking off with a shovel
and their rifle to go to the toilet,
what's the different between them doing it
and me doing it?
So, I didn't bother with any of that
and we just mucked in.
And for the first week or so it was really, really hard
because you have to prove yourself to the lads
'cause they've you know,
they're gonna have a little bit of a stigma
towards it as well.
Saying, "Oh a woman can't do this job."
And there was a small amount of that
but I proved myself quite early on
so then that went and I just become one of the lads.
And that was one of the best tours,
well the best tour I'd ever done
and I guess, for me I see that as the making
of who I really am as a person.
