Here at The Women's Organisation, our very own Training and Development Specialist, Jenny Wallwork, served time in the forces long before joining our team, and we want to celebrate that this Armed Forces Week. Take a read of Jenny's guest blog to discover how her experience as a woman in the armed forces influenced the person we know and love today. Take a read of Jenny's guest blog this Armed Forces Week ...
"Born in Liverpool made in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS)!" - Never a truer statement said!
In celebration of Armed Forces day I am writing a blog about
my experiences and adventures as a Jenny Wren (yes I know, obviously born to be
a Wren) within the Women’s Royal Naval
Service.
On leaving school I attended a local college to study with
the intention of finding employment. At
the age of 17 yrs, I was a shy, quiet, but a good kid who enjoyed sport, particularly netball and
football, and was looking for my next step in life. I attended a careers convention at college,
there were lots of organisations recruiting for the future one being that of
the Armed Forces and Police. I enquired about them all, however the Navy really
did stand out, it is the Senior Service and their professionalism and all round
commitment really appealed to me. I was
invited down to Derby Square (RN recruitment office) in Liverpool to attend an
interview, I then completed a written academic test and finally a fitness test,
I passed with flying colours. My adventure was about to begin.
One question that is often asked is "why did you join the
WRNS?"
The fact of doing something different, which sounded
exciting and a big adventure was the attraction. I did not know anyone else who had joined the
forces, not even family members, I had never been on holiday as a child, we
really couldn’t afford it, so to suddenly then to be on the cusp of leaving
home at 17yrs and travelling to HMS Dauntless (Reading) for my Basic Training,
looking back, seems quite crazy. So, off I went to start the biggest adventure of my life.
What did I gain from being in the Navy?
My naval career spanned 7 years, I felt quite privileged to
be a part of an incredible team, as percentage wise, not many women who applied
to the WRNS were accepted.
In the beginning I was terribly homesick, travelling the
other end of the country, not knowing when I would be home next, gave me a
horrible feeling that I had never experienced before, which on reflection isn’t
surprising as I was so young, previously I had only been for days out with my
family, the furthest being North Wales. I
firmly believe that the training and skills I developed, set me up for life,
those Leadership and Management skills, Self Discipline, Motivation and Resilience
and drive to be the very best that I could be, developing a can-do attitude. has
guided me through every pathway of my career. The opportunity to travel, work
for NATO and live in Norway for 2 years, building lifelong friendships,
representing the Navy and combined services in Netball and Volleyball, opened
another social outlet as well as giving me the travelling bug. Even to this day, when asked about my career
and my Forces experiences, people are genuinely interested, as for whatever
reason, people still think that it was probably not the norm for a woman to be
in the forces, in such a male dominant environment.
I can only speak from my experience, yes it was a tough
environment as over 90% of my colleagues were male. I developed resilience
like no other, even at a very young age I had the ability to stand up for
myself, which as a woman in an extremely male dominant environment is
important.
When I joined up, women did not go to sea, which I was glad about, as
living in such cramped and sometimes smelly conditions was not appealing. However, this
all changed in 1990 when women started to go to sea, I had long left by
then.
However, being shore based, we did
the same job/work as our male colleagues, I think it helped me that I was so
sporty and loved football. Having a good scouse sense of humour also helped, as I was always able to have banter and work as a team regardless of gender. Yes, I did witness lots of situations where
Wrens were not treated particularly well. Sadly in those days it was accepted
as the norm, which in this current day people would not tolerate or be able to
get away with. Thankfully, my personal
experiences were very positive and I am incredibly proud of my career and life
experiences whilst serving in the WRNS.
Would I recommend a woman to join the Armed Forces?
Absolutely yes - the life experiences I gained, the training
I received, particularly in Leadership and Management, the ability to adapt to
many situations, both emergency (reactive) and planning (proactive). Being coerced into volunteering to be pushed
out of a helicopter from 50 feet into Falmouth Bay, as part of the Search and
Rescue exercise, which as an 18 year old was incredibly scary (I was the
‘Goldie Hawn’ of the sea, Private Benjamin). The colleagues/friends I met on
the way, the opportunities I was given. I am biased towards the Navy, because
of my experiences, it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Top tips:
Basic training is tough – after that, things get
considerably better
Discipline is everything – work hard, play hard
Take every opportunity given to you – good drafts and the
bad
Set your stall out – start how you mean to go on and enjoy
the ride!
Picture of my
Division HMS Dauntless 1980 - question is, can you find me?
Jenny.
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