Yo! Do you doubt our women are coming? If you do, you then need to think twice...just this year, Parliament passed a law that will allow a first female child born into the Royal Family become a Queen...and this year too, our women were told they could now join the Royal Navy Submarines, then comes the good news to end the year...Captain Charlotte Joyce whom Vigilance learnt had kept the British Army’s Apache attack helicopters flying in the demanding environments of Afghanistan and Libya was named Young Woman Engineer of the Year!
Aircraft engineering officer Captain Charlotte Joyce, of 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, was honoured by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
According to a source at the MoD Capt Joyce’s job is to manage the day-to-day maintenance of Apaches, both back at the unit’s base in Wattisham and on operations. This summer the 29-year-old was said to have served onboard HMS Ocean as part of NATO's Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR to protect civilians in Libya. Our Defence Team gathered it was the first time Apaches have flown strike missions from Royal Navy ships and presented unique maintenance challenges. She also is also said to have served in Afghanistan in 2010.
Capt Joyce, originally from Formby in Merseyside enthused: “It’s a great honour to be named Young Woman Engineer of the Year. I was nominated by my line manager for the work I have done in the last 18 months on operations. I will act as an ambassador to promote women in engineering, visiting schools to inspire young women to think about engineering as a career.”
Aaaaah, there you go again! “Historically there have been barriers to women in engineering and a lack of positive role models. I’ve never faced any issues as a female engineer in the Army and a career in engineering has given me excellent opportunities,” Captain Joyce revealed.
Capt Joyce, who studied at Bristol University, worked at the British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada for 18 months and helped to train soldiers at the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering before joining 4 Regt AAC in 2009, confessed the two operations she had deployed on had presented very different challenges.
She said: “Afghanistan is very hot and sandy, whereas on HMS Ocean we had to deal with damp, cold and salty conditions and the confined spaces of a ship. But the aircraft is extremely robust and has been very successful at operating in these very different environments, and the technicians I manage are just as capable and well-trained to deal with whatever is asked of them.”
A delighted Lieutenant Colonel Jason Etherington, Commanding Officer of 4 Regt AAC enthused: “I congratulate Captain Joyce on being named Young Woman Engineer of the Year. The award is richly deserved and reflects the calibre of people employed in the military and the challenging work they carry out in demanding circumstances.”
The award was presented to Capt Joyce by TV presenter Myleene Klass at a ceremony in London last week.
Ben Rudd, Head of Communications at the Institution of Engineering and Technology remarked: “Winning this award marks out Captain Charlotte Joyce as a world class engineer, as she has beaten extremely stiff competition.”
Mr Rudd added: “She’ll now go on to be a champion for all women who have become professional engineers and, even more importantly, she will be a fantastic example to young women everywhere to seriously consider an exciting and rewarding career in engineering. We are delighted to be able to support her in this important work.”