Page 25 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

The biggest difference is that
females have only been admitted
to AMAN in the last two years.
Their assimilation is welcome but
tentative; female OCdts sleep in
separate guarded dormitories and
they can only join the ordnance or quartermaster branches. Despite
their difficult position as pioneers
of change, they are tenacious,
hard-working and typically outperform the males in tests. They acknowledge some frustrations but are optimistic about the future of females in the Brazilian Army. In one particularly touching moment, a civilian mother asked OCdt Eldridge and a female Brazilian OCdt to take a photo with her daughter, who had not seen female soldiers before.
However, the similarities between RMAS and AMAN run deep. The Bra- zilian OCdts and officers work hard with professionalism and humour. They are fit, motivated, and take seriously their responsibilities as the dominant regional power and a rising global power. They are immensely proud of their role in the liberation of Europe in the Second World War
and took us to their memorial to the Battle of Montese in Italy in 1945. Their academy motto: ‘Ides comandar, aprendi a obedecer’ (Thou will command; learn to obey’) echoes our ‘Serve to Lead’, and the Brazilians are proud to be serving their country. Hopefully the links we made with AMAN will be built on in years to come, and per- haps they could donate RMAS some palm trees.
The biggest difference is that females have only been admitted to AMAN in the last two years.
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