Colonel Silipa Raradoka Druavesi Vananalagi was one of 41 women who broke a longstanding tradition in the “boys club” Republic of Fiji Military Forces in 1988 by enlisting into military service.
By doing so they became the first Fijian women to wear the army green.
Out of the 41 women, only seven were commissioned as officers and this week, we continue Ms Vananalagi’s story and her journey in the RFMF.
After finishing high school, Ms Vananalagi was posted to the RFMF Engineers Regiment which was a challenge in it itself, as she did not have any engineering education or background.
“From secondary school to do military training then to the engineers section with no engineering background – that was a challenge for me in itself.
“The CEO then, Lieutenant Colonel Apolosi Biuvakaloloma put me through orientation training with all the subunits to help me understand their role better.
“After that I was sent to Labasa as 2IC (2nd In-Charge) with one of our engineer combat squadrons that was looking after rural development in the north.
“My OC (Officer-in-Charge) was Captain Bale Momoivalu and I learnt a lot from him.
“He was a graduate from Sandhurst (Royal Military College, Sandhurst) and I was lucky to have him.
“So, everything was like an on-thejob training for me.”
Upon returning to Suva, Ms Vananalagi did administration training before being posted to the Maintenance Unit under the guidance of Lt Col Inoke Luveni who was the commanding officer at the time.
From maintenance, she joined the Logistics Support Unit (LSU) where she also underwent training through all the subunits within LSU.
“After unit level, I was then posted to headquarters LFC (Land Force Command) to be a staff officer there.
“Being a junior officer we had to attend to all the duties that we were tasked with.
“We had our normal RFMF work and then we also had to attend to all other RFMF activities and we have to be there at least a half an hour before time.
“We had to make sure we attended those activities, and the only reason they would accept for a no-show was a life and death situation.”
One of the highlights of that time for her was serving in the Great Councils of Chiefs (GCC).
“That was about the same time that the GCC was still being convened and we, the female recruits, used to take part in the meeting.
“We made the chiefs tea, escorted them around and we even hosted them if there was a pre-drinks event at the bar and all that.”
Being in the military did not mean only serving locally, she also had her share of missions abroad.
In 1996, Ms Vananalagi went on her first six-month deployment overseas to the Multinational Force Observers (MFO) in Sinai.
Between 2000 and 2001, she served in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and entered the history books by becoming the first Fijian woman to do so. In 2006, she was sent by the RFMF to undergo a logistics training program in Australia.
Four years later, between 2011-2012, she served in Sinai as the Officer Commanding (OC) for Support Services Company.
Between 2013-2014, she served in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria (UNDOF) as staff officer and again created history by becoming the first Fijian woman to do so.
In 2016 she was appointed Commanding Officer (CO) of LSU at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks (QEB) in Nabua and later became the first Fijian woman to serve as Chief Military Planning Officer in UNDOF HQ from 2018 to 2019.
Between 2020-2021, she assumed the position of United Nations Truce Supervision Organization Golan with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and again, became the first Fijian woman to do so.
“The military has a lot of opportunities both for education and for work.
“I only wish that we were given the opportunities that the female recruits are getting now.
“Most of these new recruits don’t even spend one year on the service and they’re already sent for TOD (tour of duty) on peacekeeping, but for us we had to wait for 12 years or so and our deployment was only for six months.”
Ms Vananalagi was equerry to Meghan Markle when she and Prince Harry visited Fiji in 2018.
Last year in 2022, Ms Vananalagi was promoted to the rank of Colonel, making her the second women in the RFMF to achieve that.
Currently, the Commandment of the RFMF Officers Training School in Vatuwaqa, she said she would be forever grateful to the army for all that she has achieved in life.
“A lot of opportunities have been opened to the women who are now in the force and this was not the case for us back then.
“We fought for our place, we fought for our existence to be recognised also, but even though we went through all that hardship, we never backed down.”
Ms Vananalagi said being in a leadership position could be lonely at times, particularly for someone like her who loved working outside so she always tried to go out and be with her soldiers whenever she has the chance to.
“Being in leadership can be lonely because you’re just sitting in your chair, and you wait for emails to come through.
“Also, people will not come around you when you’re in your office, unless an appointment is made. “So, for me, whenever I could, I would go out and blend with the soldiers.
“In that way, I could get to know them too. “People have their own different ways of doing their job.”
