First UK soldiers join US Marines' Female Engagement Team

LCpl Nicola Murray and LCpl Jennifer Garraway with their certificates

wo British female soldiers in Helmand have completed the US Marine Corps’ Female Engagement Team course in Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.

Army administrator Lance Corporal Jennifer Garraway (22) and Army medic Lance Corporal Nicola Murray (27), both serving with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS), have become the first British soldiers to attend the nine-day Female Engagement Team (FET) course at the United States Marine Corps (USMC) base near Camp Bastion.

The all-female course focuses on interaction with the local Afghan female population, fostering relationships and gaining the trust and support of Afghans whilst patrolling with infantry soldiers. The British soldiers were fully embedded; working, living and eating with 50 female Marines from across Helmand province.

The course is culturally important to operations in Afghanistan as Afghan woman are not allowed to be greeted or spoken to by males outside their family, therefore male members of the military are unable to access approximately 51 percent of the Afghan population.

LCpl Garraway said: “Afghan women have a significant influence on their families and communities, and their influence is often reflected in the behavior of their children and husbands.”

The course consisted of patrolling skills, radio procedures, medical training, ranges, physical training and martial arts. LCpl Garraway, a Combat HR Administrator from the Adjutant General’s Corps and LCpl Murray, a Combat Medical Technician from the Royal Army Medical Corps, joined just 28 female Marines at the graduation ceremony.

Both soldiers will now form a FET within a newly formed infantry rifle company from 1 SCOTS, in a ground-holding role in Combined Force Nad-e Ali in Helmand over the next four months.

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