[1980s] Background and Parent Unit for Female in 14 Co in the British Armed Forces

[Icelander]

The Det, 14 Company, 14 Intelligence Company, 14 Field Security, or the Special Reconnaissance Unit (SRU) had a lot of names, as well as the official cover name of Northern Ireland Training and Advisory Teams (Northern Ireland) or NITAT(NI), but their most important facet for my purposes is that from 1972-2005, they were the only way that a female in the British Armed Forces could volunteer for and go through Special Forces training, not to mention perform active service in dangerous areas, with live weapons, almost tailor-made to provide useful skills for PCs in Action, Covert Ops, Special Ops and even Monster Hunter campaigns.

I have an excellent source on 14 Company, their training and duties. What I don't have is details on what women in the British Armed Forces would do before and after their temporary detail to 14 Intelligence Company. It was temporary duty, six months of training and then 18-36 months of special duties, before being returned to 'the parent unit', which was the regiment or other unit to which the soldier belonged before volunteering.

Anyone of the right rank and age in the British Armed Forces could volunteer. But what are the possible parent units and prior duties for women who might volunteer for the SRU/14 Co in the 1980s?

I know about nurses, secretaries and various clerical work. What else was available?

[johndallman]

The Ulster Defence Regiment was the first British Army regiment that had women in combat roles,

Since 14 Company spent a lot of time in Ulster, recruiting locals would have been advantageous. Learning the local accents and cultures was not trivial, and an outsider being spotted masquerading as a local on a 14 Coy mission would likely be in serious trouble.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

The Ulster Defence Regiment was the first British Army regiment that had women in combat roles,

Since 14 Company spent a lot of time in Ulster, recruiting locals would have been advantageous. Learning the local accents and cultures was not trivial, and an outsider being spotted masquerading as a local on a 14 Coy mission would likely be in serious trouble.

While they would no doubt have been extremely valuable to 14 Co, the fact that I have not yet managed to turn up any Greenfinch who is mentioned in some kind of source as having served in 14 Co suggests that they might not have been allowed to, possibly because of concerns that if it ever became public that members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were performing espionage-like duties out of uniform, it could cost the regiment what little credibility it had with Catholics in Northern Ireland.

And, in later years, when the UDR had almost no true Irish Catholics in its ranks (its few Catholics were mostly transplanted British soldiers who'd grown up elsewhere than Northern Ireland, but still happened to be Catholic), the Army might have feared using anyone from the UDR in the 14 Co could inflame sectarian tensions and bolster various conspiracy theories (not all of which might have been untrue) about official British involvement in sectarian murders in Ulster.

I'll go through all sources I can find, but given that Rennie mentions the UDR operating in certain sections while he was on 14 Co duties and recounts backgrounds for many of his fellow operators (if only he'd have operated with more than two women who revealed any of their background, I'd know a lot more), the fact that none of the operators seemed to come from Northern Ireland seemed to me... suggestive. The very existence of 14 Co was classified 'Secret', in that the circular asking for volunteers just said 'dangerous duties' and only people with Secret clearance could even read the directive which explained what it was, it's possible that there just weren't many members of UDR who had clearance to know about it.

[Icelander]

While I am setting aside the excellent suggestion of a female volunteer from the Ulster Defence Regiment while I investigate whether some legal, regulatory or customary reason prohibited such a volunteer from serving with 14 Intelligence Company, I'd like anyone who has historical knowledge of British Armed Forces to suggest some other possibilities.

For example, all women who served with the British Army officially belonged to the Women´s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) for administrative purposes, all women who served with the Royal Air Force belonged to the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) administratively and all women who served with the Royal Navy belonged to the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), which in practice got called Wrens, for administrative purposes.

Fair enough, I've read about that, but what I'm not totally clear on what duties they could be attached to regular units to for. I know women didn't go to sea on Royal Navy ships for a long, long time, and the change came after the period which matters for the campaign I'm preparing, so I'll need ideas for Wrens who are shore-bound. For women attached to the British Army or Royal Air Force, I know they are supposed to be kept away from combat duties, so they don't get to fly Harriers or Tornados in attack formations and there are probably no attachment to infantry companies, but what about infantry battalions, regiments or larger formations?

They could be secretaries to senior officers, work in clerical pools in various headquarters and handle the often manpower-intensive work of pre-digital communications, when telegram operators and switchboard operators were necessary for military units to function.

What about security clearances? In WWII, female code breakers presumably had the highest possible security clearances, as everything they did was classified, but what I'm not totally clear on is if a woman has important, sensitive duties working with a Signals unit doing highly technical things, what is her 'parent unit'?

Did the WRAC, WRAF and WRNS have lots of individual little parallel units to the structure of the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy? Were there REME, Signals, Intelligence and other specialized units within the Womens' versions of the Armed Forces to act as their 'parent units'? And how did that work, exactly?

Were all the technical courses and careers open to women, assuming they did not take place onboard a ship or in a fighter or bomber flown over potentially hostile soil or ocean? Could they sign up to become shipfitters, military police, interrogators, electronic intercept experts, radar technicians, Russian interpreters, naval intelligence analysts or small arms repairers?

And if they did, what did their parent unit become? Men who went into such specialized careers would have parent units become units under the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals, Intelligence Corps, Royal Military Police, etc.

Did parallel units to all of these exist under the WRAC, WRAF and WRNS just for the purpose of acting as 'parent units' for women who had attended courses to learn special skills and were attached to regular military units where they exercised those skills?

Or were they just paid and promoted through the WRAC, WRAF and WRNS while their 'parent unit' was the unit where they performed their duties and were stationed?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Did parallel units to all of these exist under the WRAC, WRAF and WRNS just for the purpose of acting as 'parent units' for women who had attended courses to learn special skills and were attached to regular military units where they exercised those skills?

Or were they just paid and promoted through the WRAC, WRAF and WRNS while their 'parent unit' was the unit where they performed their duties and were stationed?

The latter, basically.

[Pursuivant]

It's likely you've already done your online research, but if not there appear to be good sources of historical information about women in the UK military linked to the various British military museums.

Most of the information is about 21st century expansion of women's roles in the military, however.

Looking at the various articles gives me the impression that the situation for women in the RA was pretty bleak in the 1970s. Legally, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 limited women to support roles only. The closest a woman was likely to officially get to combat was as part of the medical corps. Even then, they wouldn't be combat medics but nurses or physicians in field hospitals.

Unofficially, however, the 1970s was the peak of "The Troubles" in NI so any member of the British military would unofficially be in harms way. While macho sexism and the relative scarcity of female soldiers would have limited combat exposure, a relatively open-minded commander might have be willing to use a female member of a support unit with unique skills in a potentially dangerous situations.

If you're willing to broaden your horizons a bit, I believe that the British intelligence services like MI5 did use female operatives. If their role required it, they might well have received "combat like" training before going undercover in NI.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Unofficially, however, the 1970s was the peak of "The Troubles" in NI so any member of the British military would unofficially be in harms way. While macho sexism and the relative scarcity of female soldiers would have limited combat exposure, a relatively open-minded commander might have be willing to use a female member of a support unit with unique skills in a potentially dangerous situations.

If you're willing to broaden your horizons a bit, I believe that the British intelligence services like MI5 did use female operatives. If their role required it, they might well have received "combat like" training before going undercover in NI.

14 Intelligence Company was a British Special Forces unit, existing alongside the SAS, with operators of 14 Company receiving Special Forces pay like SAS troopers. It was developed to target Catholic and Protestant terrorist organizations in Northern Ireland, it was open to both men and women of the British Armed Forces, who went through brutal selection that weeded out about 85% of them, then received six months of surveillance and self-defence training before being deployed, and the operators served for 18-36 months after their training, before being returned to their 'parent unit'.

So, I know where the women will receive their extensive training in adventurer skills and experience in using them. What I need is further information about the lives of female volunteers for 14 Company, their backgrounds in the military and their parent units. What did they do in the military before volunteering for Selection and what are the units and duties they return to once their service in Northern Ireland ends?

Basically, the people hiring PCs and personnel who'll serve alongside the PCs are looking for people with a very particular set of skills, who are either out of the military, or unhappy enough in their current assignment so that they might resign their commission if offered adventure, excitement, riches and so forth.

Among their requirements are women trained for undercover roles and self-defence, because a group of fit Military-Age Males (MAM) travelling together basically screams "We're potential danger!" to every militia, police, security and terrorist organization.

[Farmer]

In addition to SRU (later 14 Company), women were seconded from MI5 or MI6, plus allied intelligence services (in particular Commonwealth allies) for intelligence gathering, undercover, counter-terrorism, and support roles.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Farmer

In addition to SRU (later 14 Company), women were seconded from MI5 or MI6, plus allied intelligence services (in particular Commonwealth allies) for intelligence gathering, undercover, counter-terrorism, and support roles.

Sure, but contrary to cinema, SIS and the Security Service were neither armed nor trained with firearms, for the most part. MI5 would operate with RUC Special Branch and the RUC are armed, most likely not the Security Service personnel. Shots fired during an RUC operation means testimonies in open court and it's infinitely preferable to have the legally constituted officer, with training and the legal authority to carry a weapon, sitting there in that witness dock.

As for SIS, I don't see the benefit. If conspiracies within British politics, civil service, intelligence or security services wanted to commit crimes in Northern Ireland, they'd probably have special military units, police or security services recruit an agent within sectarian militias, and then use such agents for whatever extrajudicial activities they are doing. Sending an actual SIS officer to Northern Ireland for professional purposes is just as illegal, but has no upside. RUC SB Inpectors already know how to turn informants and as for 'pseudo-terrorist' operations and the PRU, that was apparently organized under the auspices of the military, as 14 Company was, just as it was in Borneo, Malay, Aden and Kenya.

I'm not looking for where women can learn to become Jane Bond in the 1980s, because 14 Company teach exactly the skill set needed, and has a pre-set duration of secondment, after which the operator is 'returned to their parent unit'.

I need to know what jobs women who volunteer for 14 Company were doing in the British Armed Forces before they found out about a chance to volunteer for dangerous duties. And I want to know what parent units they would have returned to after their 14 Company rotation and whether any of them perhaps took stock of their life, thought about doing that job for the next two years, and might instead be recruitable for another adventure.

[Icelander]

I found a site with good examples of careers for Wrens, but I still don't have the same grasp of what careers were possible in the WRAC.

What were the major vocational, technical, Signals and specialized careers in the WRAC?

Did they have translators and linguists? If so, as enlisted or officers? And what would their actual job title be? Would they be a 'Signals analyst' or something else?