Female officer making history at Brighton Compound

It's on a large, prime piece of land in an affluentCharlottetown neighbourhoodjust steps from the Victoria Park boardwalk, and has served as a military unit since 1904.

A lot has changed at the Brighton Compound since then. The white brick structure at the entrance where gun powder was once stored is now a heritage building, but the rest of the property is still in use.

It's known as 1 Squadron, one of three reserve units on P.E.I. that also includes the P.E.I. Regiment and HMCS Queen Charlotte. It provides communications training to its members and communications support to other Canadian army units.

One of the most notable changes at the compound came two years ago when Maj. Jennifer Arsenault became the first female officer in charge of a reserve unit on P.E.I.

Two weeks ago, Arsenault was promoted to become the first female deputy commanding officer of 36 Signal Regiment, an amalgamation of 1 Squadron and two other units in Halifax and Glace Bay that, in total, consists of nearly 400 officers and soldiers.

Arsenault, a mother of four, said it speaks of the opportunities for women in the Canadian forces.

"I've never seen my gender as a barrier to anything that I've done," she said,

"The Canadian Armed Forces, I think, has done a fairly good job of getting to the point where we're at where we are seen and treated as equals. I've been in the military or touched it over the last 23 years and I think we've definitely gotten better at it."

Only 3 women at Brighton Compound

Arsenault said she would like to see more women join the forces, however. Of the three full-time staff and 30 or so reservists at the Brighton Compound, only three including RachelleGarcia, who will take over as the officer in charge when Arsenault transitions out of the role are women.

"I would like to see more people in general joining the forces, but if women want to, and it's something that they're even a little bit interested in, don't let any of it be intimidating. Just come out and try it out and see how it can work for you."

When Arsenault joined the reserves while in high school in 1997, she knew she didn't want a nine-to-five office job, but was unsure about the fitness level required for a career in the forces.

"Now I tell people just go and do it because they will help train you. If you can do the initial fitness test then you're good to go and you'll get to where you need to be."

Similar challenges in any job

She said in her experiencethe challenges women may face in the military are no different thanthey would face in any job.

"Within the army there are different trades and some trades feel they are better at certain things than others, so when you combine working with someone who feels their trade or their job is superior to yours, and maybe they don't see the gender as being as capable, there's definitely going to be some of those issues throughout everything that you do," she said.

"I think in the grand scheme of things in terms of my career, there's been nothing that's held me back for any length of time. There's been frustrations and there's been days you shake your head."

Arsenault said it helps to have a supportive partner, especially if you have children. Her husband is also in the reserves, and has a regular civilian job.

To join the reserves, you are required to train one night perweek and one weekend permonth. During the first couple years, basic training and other courses are required in the summer months depending on your trade of choice.

Helps pay for university

Arsenault said recruitment has been a challenge during COVID-19, but applications are still coming in, often from university students who can make enough money in those summers to pay for tuition.

Reservists only go to war if they choose to, but can be called upon for domestic emergencies such as wildfires, floods and, for example, Hurricane Dorian last year. Last year, Arsenault served as the deputy task force commander for the Canadian contingent of a United Nations mission in South Sudan.

She said most of the time the work is collegial, co-operative and interactive, especially in the technical trades like radio and satellite communications, the domain of 1 Squadron.

And though Arsenaultsaid the only time she yells is during a parade, it's likely a drill sergeant will yell at a new recruit at some point, but even that has changed over the years.

"It's not so much yelling at someone for the sake of yelling at them, it's more making sure people are reacting, acting in a safe way, making sure that things that you have to do when you're completely sleep-deprived and under a whole lot of stress become natural and you don't have to think about it," she said.

"It's not that you're going to stand out in the blazing sun and be screamed at for hours and hours at a time, but you're going to have someone raise their voice at you at some point early on in your career."

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