The power of the world's only female task force

In Hunter Troop, Norway's first female special task force training program, female soldiers must carry dozens of kilograms of equipment, march for many kilometers, catch animals for food. During the survival training and practice jumping off the plane to escape the enemy.

Hunter Troop forces, also known as Jegertroppen in Norway, were founded in 2014. According to military commanders here, the war in Afghanistan has proven the necessity of post-trained female warriors. version to gather intelligence and access to women and children in conservative communities.

Although it was originally considered a pilot program, Hunter Troop has become a great success. In the first year, there were more than 300 women enrolled and about a dozen people each year underwent annual severe training. These people are the elite female soldiers who can operate both at home and abroad.

Hunter Troop, also known as Jegertroppen in Norway, was founded in 2014. (Photo: Mohamed Madi).

Join Hunter Troop and undergo tough training programs but Jannike, a 19-year-old girl from Northern Norway, only modestly states that he is "quite strong". "I want to do something bigger, the most arduous challenges that the military brings. I want to know my limits," Jannike said.

After 6 months, despite the "extremely disappointing times" , the 19-year-old girl was determined to complete the training. Challenges in the course include melee techniques and offensive driving.

Jannike revealed the most difficult training to date is "hell week." This is a psychological and physical strength test, including high-intensity military operations for many days and very little food and water. "They want to check if you can handle exhaustion pressure," the 19-year-old said.

Winter patrol, an important lesson of the course.(Photo: Norwegian Special Forces).

Currently, these young women are practicing how to fight while seeking to escape an ambush in the city. They will act in groups of two, one hiding behind burnt tanks and shooting support with submachine guns and throwing smoke bombs so the group can escape safely.

"In order to prepare them, we try to train as best and practically as possible. They are forced to go through many exercises to get used to them" - Captain Ole Vidar Krogsaeter, supervisor training, speaking.

However, every time when the break is over, the female soldiers of the age of 19-27 are completely changed. They sing innocently, play with each other and then fire and open a barbecue party.

Whenever the break is over, the female soldiers of the age of 19-27 are completely changed.(Photo: Mohamed Madi).

In the mid-1980s, Norway became one of the first NATO countries to allow women to operate in all combat positions, although the number of people actually responsible for this was still low. At that time, although women were allowed to register to join the task force, no one was involved.

Meanwhile, the United States and Britain have just begun to remove restrictions for women to register for combat units recently. However, special forces in the United States proved particularly resistant to these changes.

A survey conducted by the Rand Institute in 2014 found that 85% of the US Special Operations Command's men opposed women taking on their professional jobs. In addition, the number of people disagreeing for women to join the unit is also very high, accounting for 71%.

The identity of the team members is kept confidential.(Photo: Mohamed Madi).

The main reason is that they think that if women join, the rigor of the standards will decrease and affect the cohesion in the team. In addition, the men also complained about the disturbing effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) , facing complaints, wife's suspicions or the inconveniences of housing division. .

However, Mr. Magnus, a soldier in the Norwegian task force, who was responsible for training the Jegertroppen task force, proved impatient with the problems "men created". Magnus said in Norway, the majority of men and women were in the same room and PMS "was not a problem" during the training.

Even so, he admitted that there were some noticeable concerns, especially the ability to stretch male comrades to a quick safe place of female soldiers."I think you shouldn't think girls will act like boys. Although they won't win a duel, most of the time we use guns. There are times when they shoot better than men, " said Magnus.

The girls were trained to dance even like men.(Photo: Norwegian Special Forces).

Although gender equality has always been maintained in the military as well as Norwegian society, only 11% of military members are women. This number reflects the slowdown in recruiting and retaining girls.

Most Jegertroppen members are elite athletes of high schools. In addition to physical health, they also possess many other strengths. Venderla, 22, who passed the 2016 training course, said: "Women have creative thoughts. Men only do what they have to do. Maybe we are better at looking at other solutions. better".

Venderla said she had never been sexist in the task force but met the situation in another battalion. At that time, some soldiers thought that because of being a woman, Venderla was weaker and less capable, one even gave rude comments about the young girl. After Venderla reported the incident, the situation immediately ended."I think he might feel a little insecure. I know I can afford it because I passed the test, so it's his own problem," Venderla said confidently.

The affection between the members of the team is as close as the sisters.(Photo: Mohamed Madi).

Currently, the Norwegian task force is being deployed in Jordan to help train Syrian rebels against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). To date, no female soldier of the Jegertroppen team has been deployed in a special campaign, but commanders say it is important that they are trained and ready when necessary.

With a calm but confident voice, the girl Jannike said that in a peaceful country like Norway, it was difficult for her to keep in mind that they were " really learning to kill". "But I will try because that's what we are really trained " - Jannike said.