VICE Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman didn’t bristle when asked to respond to the possibility that her memoir could be interpreted as her portraying the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) as a patriarchal organisation.

“It’s absolutely not meant to paint the JDF as a misogynistic organisation… The JDF is a wonderful organisation. I’ve had wonderful experiences, and I’ve documented those. I got an opportunity to serve in a space where no female had served before,” Wemyss-Gorman, the current chief of defence staff (CDS), responded with a composed confidence that left little room for doubt.

The question was put to Wemyss-Gorman by the Jamaica Observer because her memoir, Life, duty and command, already available in digital format with hard copy release scheduled for another few weeks, gives insights into her life growing up in Top Alston, Clarendon, through to her years in the JDF — from the day she enlisted to January 2022 when she made history by being appointed the only female head of an armed force globally.

Her JDF experiences were not unique as historically, armed forces around the world have been shaped by traditions rooted in rigid notions of masculinity. And while considerable headway has been made in narrowing gender disparities, women in armies worldwide still encounter barriers that impede their professional growth and broader participation in military life.

In Wemyss-Gorman’s view, though, the JDF has been doing well in that “process of evolution”.

“In fact, the JDF is like a beacon of transformation and inclusivity globally… we are a shining example, and not just because we ended up with a female CDS, but just how we have managed to integrate both genders into the force,” said the maritime security specialist who admits in the memoir that she had no yearning for the army’s top job.

Why wasn’t she interested in becoming CDS?

“Because I knew what that sacrifice meant. My ambition in the JDF was to command a ship and go to sea — it was not to command a desk,” replied Wemyss-Gorman, who joined the Coast Guard in 1994 and eventually became its first female commanding officer.

“I also had one son who had sacrificed significantly to the JDF because, of course, when you’re serving at the level that I was serving, and at the pace that I was serving, it’s not a balance in terms of motherhood or a career — it’s a sacrifice on either side.

“And having gotten to the headquarters where, as the force executive officer, I was very close to the CDS, I knew what the job entailed. I was seeing it every day and I was like, ‘I don’t need that.’ So, yeah, I wasn’t interested. And there were other people who were way more interested and who, in my mind, [were] competent enough to do it,” said Wemyss-Gorman, who in the memoir also lays bare controversial experiences that have generated both scrutiny and controversy.

One such was when, during her tenure as head of the Coast Guard, she learnt that a fellow officer was aware that the driver assigned to her was under investigation for drug trafficking but failed to inform her.

“I cannot adequately describe the embarrassment, disappointment, and sense of betrayal I felt,” she writes in the memoir, adding that the fellow officer “allowed me to continue conducting operations with an individual under suspicion, driving me whilst having access to sensitive information. This remains one of the most vulnerable and disappointing experiences of my career. It represented a profound failure of the trust I expected from a colleague and fellow commanding officer.

“I’m still unclear on the rationale behind his decision. Was he attempting to determine whether I was involved? Was there an intent to tarnish my reputation? Whatever the reasoning, he placed my life at risk, endangered my family, compromised my unit, and jeopardised my command.”

Wemyss-Gorman notes that upon uncovering the information about the driver, she “took swift action” to “separate” him from the JDF.

Asked why she included that experience in the memoir, Wemyss-Gorman said: “I think it was important to document it so that, one, it doesn’t happen to other persons again, but because it’s my memoir and that’s what happened.”

Pointing out that the incident occurred more than a decade ago, Wemyss-Gorman said the JDF has moved on from that.

“What I would want readers to understand about where the JDF is now is that we do our investigations. When soldiers are found in breach of any civil or military rules or regulations it is treated with very rapidly — and that has always been the case, really, in the JDF.

“In the case that I spoke about, I wasn’t aware of the investigation, and that was the main issue that I had [with the matter]… it would have been prudent for me to know, based on the risk that it posed to me personally and to the operations that I was in charge of,” the CDS told the Sunday Observer, adding that in that matter she felt that her colleague let her down.

Overall, though, Wemyss-Gorman said her military career has been fulfilling.

Asked whether enlisting had been the right decision, she responded in a heartbeat: “Absolutely, I’d do it again. Serving in the military, you don’t expect it to be easy.”