The Battle to defeat Al-Shabaab: Cpl Fitzhugh
British Soldiers from the Somali Support Team (SST) work with the Somalian National Army (SNA) to help train and advise them in their fight to defeat the Al-Shabaab terrorist organisation.
Cpl Sophie Fitzhugh tells us about her time in Somalia with the Somali Support Team. 👇
My role within the STT is it to provide Force Protection to the training team and the advisors who work closely with the SNA Headquarters.
On a day-to-day basis the STT, in Baidoa, works with the SNA in a training and advisory role. Our key activity is running the Company Collective Training, which sees us training company level groups in basic infantry tactics.
Understanding the local culture, and its people, is key to success when developing lasting relationships needed to work with our partner forces.
The Somali people have been very welcoming; however, it remains a constant battle to do more to educate ourselves on their history and culture to better understand the problems they face as a people and a nation.
I did not expect there to be any females within the SNA, due to the Somali culture. I was surprised to see so many young, motivated, females actively involved in the training.
When I first arrived in theatre, I needed to zero my individual weapon systems — aligning the sights on your rifle so that you can accurately aim at the target — which I did alongside an SNA training day.
As the only female firing at the time, all the Somali soldiers congregated around my target to see my grouping. They were impressed and congratulated me with clapping and cheers, it humoured me as I still needed to adjust my sight, but I felt proud to illustrate my ability.
I felt it was very important to illustrate to the Somali female soldiers that females can operate just as proficiently alongside our male counterparts.
Hopefully, this will help to motivate and inspire female SNA soldiers throughout their training with the British Army.
The Somali Training Team continues to work alongside the Somalian National Army to help bring stability to the region.
Read more about some of the women who are keeping Britain safe on deployment: 👇
