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Royal Navy introduces sports bras! Female captains win fight to ditch ‘uncomfy’ standard issue underwear in favour of free alternative after arguing cadets shouldn’t be ‘financially disadvantaged’ by their bodies
- The four women Sarah Oakley, 49, Catherine Jordan, 47, Jo Deakin, 49, and Suzi Neilsen have made Navy history by succeeding in changing uniform rules
- Women campaigned for new cadets to be able to access comfortable underwear after traditionally only being given the option to buy standard issue bras
- The women have also made history as the first women to command all four of the Navy’s major training camps, writes The Sunday Telegraph
Four Royal Navy captains have made history on Forces dress code by campaigning for sports bras to be part of the uniform, saying ‘women should not be hindered by their bodies’ whilst working.
Sports bras are to become part of the Royal Navy’s official working dress, the women captains who head the service’s training camps have pledged.
Usually, cadets have to fork out £50 through a special ordering service for bras, which are not suitable for training.
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Four captains, not pictured, have campaigned for new cadets to be able to access comfortable underwear after traditionally only being given the option to buy standard issue bras (Pictured: Stock image of women in the Royal Navy)
They currently can claim the money back, but they’re given two standard issue bras, which many recruits have deemed not fit for purpose during the Navy’s training exercises.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the four Royal Navy women, who have also made history as the first women to command all four of the Navy’s major training camps, say women recruits should not be ‘financially disadvantaged’ by their bodies.
The captains said that they have drawn from their own experiences as cadets between the 1990s and early 2000s to ensure that the current female intake are better prepared for life in the military as a woman, and won’t suffer needlessly when doing physical activity.
Sarah Oakley, 49, Captain of the Britannia Royal Naval College, said the new initiative will ensure ‘properly fitted bras – sports bras – for all female cadets’.
‘In the future we will have this as a uniform piece of kit.’
Sarah Oakley, 49, Captain of the Britannia Royal Naval College, said the new initiative will ensure ‘properly fitted bras – sports bras – for all female cadets in the future we will have this as a uniform piece of kit.’
However, the leaders are determined to make the sports bra part of the official dress as Captain Suzi Nielsen, commanding officer at HMS Raleigh, said: ‘You shouldn’t be financially disadvantaged for something you can’t control and that is part of your body.’
Captain Oakley said when she joined the Navy there was no scheme in place for bra fittings.
‘I’m showing them we’re investing in them, we want their training to be a success, and that we want any minor barriers to be taken away as quickly as possible.’
The other two captains commanding training camps are Jo Deakin, 49, commanding officer of HMS Sultan in Gosport, and Catherine Jordan, 47, of HMS Collingwood.
The UK Navy is currently seeking to recruit more women into its ranks.
Captain Nielsen said: ‘We’re still going to be in the minority to an extent and so the work is to ask, ‘How do we empower those females, how do we make them feel really comfortable, how can they deliver?’
As for having made history in their Navy roles as women, Captain Deakin said ‘It’s a beautiful coincidence, but it’s a moment in time, not the moment in time.’
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