Wisdom, Obedience Leads To Success: Tora
The 51-year-old woman from Gau, Lomaiviti, was among the first contingent of 29 military personnel that left our shores for Sinai last week.
Awoman can reach the highest academic calibre but without wisdom, she will fail in life. These were the words of advice from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), Warrant Officer Class 1, Akisi Tora, who is among the new group of 170 military personnel that will serve in Sinai for a year under the Multinational Force and Observers group (MFO).
The 51-year-old from Gau in Lomaiviti, was among the first contingent of 29 military personnel that left our shores for Sinai last week.
She was among the first women who were recruited into the RFMF in 1988.
In 1999, the mother of three left the RFMF to work as a flight attendant and in 2004 she rejoined RFMF.
“I have been in the military long enough to know how it functions on a daily basis because I was one of the first females that were recruited in the RFMF. Working in a male-dominated environment made me a strong woman.
“I left to work as a flight attendant for Air Pacific (now Fiji Airways) and travelled the world, but then my passion was in the mili- tary so I joined them again."
Her first deployment was in 2004 where she served in Iraq for a year and eight times she had been deployed to various parts of the Middle East including Syria.
Ms Tora said out of the 170 military personnel, eight are females.
“My advice to the young female soldiers that will be deployed is to stay true to the calling, mission and vision because they will never find any institution such as this that comes with so much opportunities but it is important that they don’t abuse them.
“If they want to stay longer in the military, they need to be obedient, if they want to shorten their military life than it’s up to them, they are professional soldiers and educated,” she added.
According to her life experiences in the RFMF, the seasoned soldier said the fall of most young female soldiers is that they are not obedient.
“I am very straightforward when I speak to young female soldiers, we are all travelling as adults so we all know the difference between good and bad, I have always reminded them that having an affair with the opposite sex in the mission area is not allowed and it puts down the integrity of the institution, so if they want to stay longer in the military they should refrain from getting involved in such things.
“They can only survive if they have wisdom and this only comes from God because through this they will make the right decisions in life,” Warrant Officer Class 1 Tora added.