Life on the Front Lines with the Women of the UK Forces

The Telegraph has a an enjoyable narrative about the women on the front lines in Afghanistan.

"You have days when you think, 'What am I doing? I could be sunbathing somewhere.' But then you get up the next day and say, 'No, I love doing this. This is what I want to do.'"

Charlene is with the RAF Police. Her job is to guard the camp and patrol the surrounding villages, ensuring good relations with the locals. Although women are still technically forbidden from front-line, hand-to-hand combat, at any moment she could come face to face with the Taliban. In this war, as in Iraq, the front line is blurred.

She tucks her long, brown hair under her helmet. "The main threat is that when they're coming towards you, they could be a suicide bomber carrying an IED (improvised explosive device). It is a dangerous job. But I like a bit of adventure, and you get an adrenalin rush every day."

Charlene is one of 1,000 women serving in Afghanistan out of a total of around 10,000 British troops. Women make up nearly 10 per cent of the armed forces overall, so what is it like being a woman in a man's world?

"The banter can get pretty bad," says Charlene, "but we give as good as we get. It doesn't matter what you are – male, female, young or old – why not have the best person for the job?"

By: Brant