Helping to blaze a trail for women in the Defence Forces

Just the other day, it dawned on Commandant Sharon McManus that this year would be her 25th in the Defence Forces. The quarter-century passed in the proverbial blink of an eye, which is a testament to how interesting and fulfilling she's found her career.

"It's crazy, it feels like it's only been a couple of years," she says.

The Hillquarter, Coosan, native has achieved much along the way, becoming the first female cadet to study engineering in college, and going on to spend two years working with the European Defence Agency in Brussels.

Most recently, she led a feasibility study, which has just been published, on establishing a Research, Technology and Innovation capability for Ireland's Defence Forces and Department of Defence.

Sharon is currently getting ready to deploy to Lebanon on a mission that's being led by the Athlone-based 6th Infantry Battalion. The six-month trip begins in May and, while she has served on three overseas tours in the past, this one is different as it's her first since becoming a mother of three children.

With International Women's Day approaching on Monday next, March 8, Sharon spoke to us about the positive experiences she's had working in the traditionally male-dominated world of the Defence Forces.

A daughter of Michael and Roseann McManus, she has two sisters, Hilary and Fiona, and a brother, Dermot, who sadly died in 2016.

Although she had no military background in her family, her interest in sport and the great outdoors helped influence Sharon's choice of career.

"I was very 'sporty' in school, I was really into hockey and basketball. I went to Our Lady's Bower and the school was always very supportive of any of the girls who were interested in the Defence Forces," she states.

"They brought in speakers, other female Army officers and soldiers, and with Athlone being an army town it just seemed like a very normal choice for someone who was interested in sport and the outdoors.

"My parents were very supportive of it as well. I suppose they thought that I would be suited for it. Nobody ever said, 'Why are you thinking about doing that?' or put any doubt in my head."

She joined as a cadet in 1996, after her Leaving Cert, and was commissioned to the Artillery Corps two years later. Engineering had been another career option she considered while in school, and a few years after joining the Army she went to study civil engineering in NUI Galway.

The fact that she was the first female cadet to study engineering in college wasn't something she spent much time dwelling upon.

"No, I didn't give it a second thought!" she says. "I just got straight into it."

Her degree parchment wasn't the only thing that made that course in Galway worthwhile. She made a number of lasting friendships with her classmates, one of whom, Brian Kenny, later became her husband.

She and Brian live in his native village of Laurencetown, between Ballinasloe and Portumna, and they have a son, Tom (7) and twins Kate and Darragh (4).

Sharon subsequently decided to specialise in Energy Engineering, completing a Masters' in the subject in UCC and becoming, in effect, the energy manager for the Defence Forces.

She said energy usage and efficiency is an area of increasing focus for militaries around the world, and her own interest in this field was prompted, in part, by experiences she had on her overseas missions.

The first trip was to Liberia, in 2004/2005, where she was part of the engineering platoon. "Our job was essentially to provide what we call the 'life support' elements of the camp. That means providing clean running water, which we had to drill and purify ourselves.

"Then we had to provide electricity for the camp, which is key to everything, and also had to do all infrastructural work.

"Liberia was unique in that we also had to do a lot of patrolling with the infantry troops, because the road and bridge conditions were very poor after the war, so we would have to inspect bridges and ensure the infantry troops could actually cross these bridges and maintain these lines of communication where needed."

Later in 2005, she faced very different weather conditions on her second overseas mission, which was in a logistics role at the NATO headquarters in Kosovo.

"In a number of months, I went from heat of almost 50 degrees Celsius in Liberia to minus-20 degree temperatures in Kosovo!

"Going from the extreme heat of Liberia to the extreme cold of Kosovo, and seeing the impact that had on electrical networks and grids, not just for the military but also on the local population, really gave me an interest in energy and energy management."

In 2010, she returned to Africa to spend four months serving with what proved to be the last group of Defence Forces troops in Chad. After the battalion arrived, they received the news that the President of Chad had asked the UN to leave the country.

"We had to, essentially, dismantle the camp and get out of there," she recalls. "What was interesting, and a really good challenge for me, was that we had to keep that 'life-support' system going while withdrawing.

"That was a real team effort between logistics, engineers, and the troops on the ground. I loved that trip. It was very challenging but very rewarding to see what you could do in those austere conditions.

"Our camp was not accessible by road within a number of days (of arriving), so in terms of re-supply you had to work with what you had on the ground. You couldn't just run down to Ganly's and pick up some supplies, you really had to innovate!"

In 2015, Sharon was offered the opportunity to take up a new role with the European Defence Agency.

"There I led the energy and environmental working group for the European Armed Forces, which brought me into the research and technology space. We were really looking at emerging technologies and strategic research for improving the resilience of troops on the ground," she explains.

"I got a great opportunity to interact with the whole European sphere, other Armed Forces, and the European Commission. I also had to lead an EU Commission-funded consultation forum on energy for the Armed Forces, which was the first Commission-funded defence activity.

"So I gathered an awful lot of experience there. Since then, the European Defence landscape has evolved considerably, most notably with the introduction of the European Defence Fund."

From a personal and family perspective, the role involved moving to Brussels with her first child, Tom. "My husband has his own civil engineering business, so he had to stay at home to keep that going," she says.

"I loved the work (in Brussels), which was so challenging and rewarding. It was great that my son could come with me, because it's always difficult, especially for mothers, to have to leave children behind on overseas missions.

"We managed to commute over and back at weekends up until the Brussels bombings in Easter 2016, and at that point we decided that because the commute was so much more difficult, with airport security, Tom would stay at home."

In the last two years, Sharon has been working with the Department of Defence on a feasibility study looking at how the Defence organisation in Ireland can set up a Research, Technology and Innovation unit.

"We have just released the final report of that feasibility study and it's been really warmly received, so I'm thrilled about that. It's going to have a lot of benefits not just for the Defence Forces but for 'Ireland Inc' in general, in terms of wider economic benefits."

She is now looking ahead to her deployment to Lebanon, in early May, as the engineering advisor with the Irish battalion. The fact that this is her first overseas mission since having children puts a slightly different complexion on the trip.

"That presents a whole other set of challenges, but the children are at a good age and we have great support from family, so it's a good time for me to do this. Overseas missions are part and parcel of being in the Defence Forces."

Outside of her career, she plays an active role in community development work in her adopted home of Laurencetown.

"There's a great community there, and with my background in engineering I was able to bring some of those skills to the community group. We've had over €1 million invested in the small village in the last number of years in terms of new facilities, so that takes up quite a lot of time.

"Apart from that, I don't have any hobbies!" she laughs. "I enjoy sport, a bit of running, and a bit of reading, but with three kids you don't have a lot of free time."

Her advice to any girl or young woman considering joining the Defence Forces is simple: Go for it.

"You will never get the range of opportunities that you get in the Defence Forces anywhere else. I can safely say that.

"It's so varied, and I would say there's a place for everyone in the Defence Forces. It's a microcosm of society, so we need everyone from pilots to sailors to soldiers to technicians to nurses and doctors.

"I would highly recommend that women consider it. Whether you want to be Rambo or an IT geek, or anywhere in between, there is a place for you!" she concludes.