Air Vice Marshal Maria Byford

When I joined the Air Force, which was in the very early nineties, I joined an armed forces and a Royal Air Force that was radically different from the organisation that we see today.

A key example would be that you could join the Royal Air Force, but you couldn’t actually have children. The prospect of staying for a full career meant it was an ‘either or’ decision for women who were joining at that point.

Following legal challenge, that policy was changed in the mid-nineties and benefited my ability to stay and have a family. But I also joined in a specific role as a newly qualified dental surgeon, with a very specific remit, and an expectation that my role would be entirely around the provision of dentistry.

However, attitudes and perceptions have shifted throughout my career, and opportunities have become much more open. An example I would give is that I was selected to command on operations in Afghanistan in 2014 as the only female commander medical through 10 years of combat operations in Afghanistan.

I got the opportunity to be the only woman in that role, which was to command the trauma field hospital capability in Camp Bastion. I was also to mentor the Afghan national army in that location, which is something that historically a woman had never done. And there were cultural barriers with dealing with my colleagues from other services that had to be overcome, for example really interesting conversations around whether or not I wore a head scarf to go and speak to my opposite number in the Afghan National Army. I made the decision not to, because I was speaking to him colleague to colleague and that was something that was accepted. We had a really fruitful seven-month relationship while supporting his army to build their own a field hospital in Helmand province.

I’m now in a role, which was traditionally not a role for a specialist, someone from the medical profession, but because of Sir Mike’s appetite to look for talent wherever he could find it, he opened up the opportunity for this particular role for any branch, and I applied for the job, had an interview and got lucky.

I’m delighted to be with him on part of our transformational journey. which is about that inclusive and integrated next generation Royal Air Force where we expect to have at least 25% women inflow by 2025, if not before.