Young soldiers are filmed finishing their training in Sandhurst Women: Army Ready
BFBS Forces News has returned to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to capture a final episode in their Sandhurst Women series.
In the first four programmes, exclusive behind-the-scenes access documented the experiences of those in the Army’s groundbreaking Critical Mass trial. It was a compelling watch, but the content was attacked by online trolls.
For this final part, Reporter Rosie Laydon gave the cadets a platform to respond.
“After spending four months filming young women on the gruelling training course at Sandhurst, and candidly discuss their experiences, it was very tough to watch the negative comments come rolling in on social media,” she said.
“The women we followed are strong, highly capable and deeply stoic: people who rarely complain about anything, let alone about faceless social media critics, but in an online world which so often seeks to diminish female ability and achievement, this project felt like an important moment give them a voice.”
The programme shows the Officer Cadets out to Germany for their final exercise and captures time on the drill square in preparation for the Sovereign’s parade. But Rosie also asked them how it felt to be personally criticised for stepping up to defend their country at one of the most dangerous times in recent history.
Officer Cadet Dent said:
“I think people…don’t think about what they write. And if they do think about what they write, then they’re very cruel because they don’t realise the impact that has.”
For Officer Cadet McCullough, her decision not to read any of the comments was harder to stick to than she’d first thought:
“Your curiosity is there. You want to read them. You want to see what people are saying…there was a lot of comments about lowering the standards – to make it clear, no standards have been lowered: males and females meet the exact same standards across the Army, not just at Sandhurst.”
And Officer Cadet Finch – a male cadet who was part of a mixed platoon – offered a staunch defence of his comrades:
“… I know that my female peers can hold their own. You know, better than most. It’s when people have got absolutely no idea on their background of their performance see them get a prize and immediately go, oh, well, it’s because she’s a woman.”
Watch Sandhurst Women: Army Ready on the BFBS Forces News website or YouTube channel now.
