Bras pledge supports female Navy recruits
SPORTS bras are to become part of the Royal Navy’s official working dress, the women captains who head the service’s training camps have pledged.
The four, who have made history as the first women to command all four of the Navy’s major training camps, say women recruits should not be “financially disadvantaged” by their bodies.
They also say they are committed to using their positions to “retain women” in the Navy.
In their first joint interview since taking up the roles, the captains told The Sunday Telegraph that they would draw on their experiences as cadets between the 1990s and early 2000s to ensure today’s female intake are better prepared for life in the military as a woman.
Sarah Oakley, captain of the Britannia Royal Naval College, said the new initiative will ensure “properly fitted bras – sports bras – for all female cadets”.
“In the future we will have this as a uniform piece of kit,” she pledged.
Currently, female cadets buy their bras through a special ordering service and can then claim up to £50 back for two bras.
However, the leaders are determined to make the sports bra part of the official dress as Capt Suzi Nielsen, commanding officer at HMS Raleigh, explained: “You shouldn’t be financially disadvantaged for something you can’t control.”
Capt Oakley, 49, said when she joined the Navy there was no scheme in place for bra fittings.
“I’m showing them we’re investing in them, we want their training to be a success, and that we want any minor barriers to be taken away as quickly as possible,” she said.
The other two captains commanding training camps are Jo Deakin, 49, commanding officer of HMS Sultan in Gosport, and Catherine Jordan, 47, of HMS Collingwood.
The signifance of their appointments is not lost on them, particularly as the Navy makes an effort to recruit more women to the service.
Capt Nielsen, 46, said: “We’re still going to be in the minority to an extent and so the work is to ask, ‘ How do we empower those females, how do we make them feel really comfortable, how can they deliver?’”
As for having made history in their Navy roles, Capt Deakin said: “It’s a beautiful coincidence, but it’s a moment in time, not the moment in time.”