BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WOMEN in the twin-island Federation continue to prove that the adage, “It’s a man’s world”, is no longer a reality as they not only compete in almost all professions once dominated by men, but they sometimes outshine them.
One such profession is the military and yesterday (Apr. 14) all eyes were upon a young woman who was adjudged the Best Overall Student at the Passing Out Parade of the 17th Basic Military Course of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) held at the organisation’s Headquarters at Camp Springfield.
That proud young woman is Zonielle Maynard who, from among the batch of 13 Recruits, carted off six of the nine awards in addition to being the Best Overall Student.
She was adjudged the best in Fieldcraft, First Aid, Skill-at-Arms, Drills, Map Reading and Military Knowledge, while another female, Naeijah Dasent, was the First Runner-up.
This is the second consecutive year that a female had taken the award for Best Overall Student. Last year it was won by Zenra Ferdinand who has since completed the Standard Officers Course at the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School in Guyana and is now wearing the rank of Ensign.
Other awardees were: Cajon Simmonds, who won the award for Best at Physical Fitness; Trevorn Henry, Most Improved Recruit and Best Rifle Shot; Rosevelt Rose, Best Pistol Shot; and Troy Lake, who took the award for Most Disciplined Student.
The 20-week course started on November 9, 2015 with 16 participants (13 males and three females) and increased to 19 a few weeks later with a three-male intake. However, five males and one female had decided to quit as the training progressed.
Among the subjects taught were Patrolling, Map Reading and Navigation, Fieldcraft and Tactics, First Aid, Physical Training, Internal Security, Drills, Use of Firearms, Court Writing Statement, Telephone Courtesy and Military Law.
The Recruits were also exposed to lectures on Money Management, Powers of Arrest, How to give evidence in Court, Cooperation between Police and Defence Forces, Use of Force and Rules of Engagement.
The Passing Out Parade was witnessed by a large number of parents, relatives and friends of the 13 Recruits, who were inspected by the Governor-General, His Excellency Sir Tapley Seaton, to whom the ‘eyes right’ and salute were given on the march pass in slow and quick time.
The Recruits also gave a scintillating display of silent drills for which they received resounding applauses from a very appreciative audience.
The feature address was given by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, who congratulated the Recruits and reminded the audience of some of the Federation’s women who are currently performing excellently in areas of work previously dominated by men.
Special congratulatory remarks were directed to now W/Private Zonielle Maynard and W/Ensign Zenra Ferdinand by Dr. Harris, who made mention of the historic achievements of Assistant Commissioner of Police Merclyn Hughes as the first female to have been elevated to that rank in the history of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force; Josephine Huggins as the first female to be appointed Cabinet Secretary; and Valencia Grant as the first female to be appointed Prime Minister’s Press Secretary in the political life of the Federation.
He also spoke about delinquency in the country and the role that the SKNDF Cadet Corps has played and still plays with regard to this issue, noting that there are positive alternatives.
The Prime Minister stated that two Recruits, Andrew Herbert and Cajon Simmonds whose grandfather was a Sergeant Major of the SKNDF, were testament to positive alternatives.
“These two have come from the New Horizons Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. I commend Herbert and Simmonds for finding the strength to overcoming adversity, because of the 16 males who began this journey 20 weeks ago, four did not complete it...Those two young men, Andrew Herbert and Cajon Simmonds, could have chosen to quit; however, despite their past challenges, they persevered and they deserve our applause for their outstanding achievement.”
