More female recruits joining Army after change in marketing

More women are taking their shot in the Army.

The number of female Army soldier recruits has jumped 25 percent in three years, with another 15 women training to become Army officers.

"We're becoming platoon commanders so that we understand what our soldiers will be going through when they're out on deployment," officer cadet Teagan Andrews-Paul told Newshub.

Andrews-Paul, 19, and Elese Russell, 23, are just two of the current officer cadet platoon in the middle of a 15-day exercise in the middle of Waiouru Military Camp.

In one scenario the platoon of 37, both men and women, came under fire from five enemy soldiers just 200 metres away. Their job was to hold their position while they figured out a way to flank them. 

"It's a bit of a mental challenge. You spend a lot of time digging, you know we dug for about 72 hours in the beginning,” officer cadet Elese Russell says.

Traditional marketing has had a focus on men, but now the Army is shifting that balance.

"Now for the Army in particular around 50 percent of our images will be women," recruitment director Lt Colonel Sandra Patterson told Newshub.

"That allows women to visualise themselves as a soldier which is difficult to do if you don't see those images."

In another show of strength, the Army launched its weapons capability display for the first time in two years.

During the display, light armoured vehicles fired on various targets and a javelin missile was fired at a retired pinzgauer vehicle, making sure the New Zealand Army is ready to deploy even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A decision on who deploys is a Government decision but for us we have an obligation to ensure we retain a trained state," Land Component Commander Brigadier Hugh Mcaslan says.

And that state now has an increasing number of women involved.

"Hell yeah, you can give it a go - it's no different being a woman than a man. If you're prepared to put in the work you can definitely do it," officer cadet Andrews-Paul added.

They're showing the next generation of recruits anyone can serve.

Newshub.