LIVERPOOL Army recruiters are urging more women to consider a career in the forces.

Two young Merseyside women who have done just that have spoken of their lives in the military.

Chauncey Ellis-Smith, 20, joined the Army learning bricklaying and plumbing and went on to engineering, currently one of the least popular sections for females, and she’s one of only two in her unit.

She said: “Girls are great because we’re organised, good at multi-tasking and perfectionists. Sometimes you can feel wrapped in cotton wool, but you can’t play on it.

“The lads will help out, but only if you give it a go first.

“And there’s this unexpected competitiveness because the boys don’t want a girl to beat them, and of course the girls don’t want to be beaten either.”

Jenny Gilligan, 21, from Old Swan, Liverpool, is from a military background and has no regrets having joined the cadets at 13 and going on to Liverpool Community College to study the Army Preparation Course.

Her father was in the Territorial Army, her grandfather was in the Royal Engineers, while one of her brothers is in the same regiment and her youngest brother is in training to join them.

Ms Gilligan said: “I grew up with two brothers and my street was full of boys, so I’ve always been one of the lads.”

She is a trained Aviation Groundcrew Specialist, which means she’s qualified to do the same job in airports and can drive a variety of larger vehicles (including tanks), and intends to be a pilot.

But first she’s got to become a Full Corporal.

“That’s what it’s like in the army, the higher rank you are, the more opportunities open as they invest in you.”

The downside isn’t so much about being a girl in the army, as the abuse of going out in uniform.

Ms Ellis-Smith said: “People think the army is just what they see on telly and read in the paper, but it isn’t.

“They only think of war, but we do a lot of peace keeping, building and other stuff too.

“For instance, during the floods we were up all night filling sandbags to protect people’s houses, and when it was over the same people we’d helped were back to throwing bricks at our trucks and shouting abuse.”

They both feel very protected in “The Green Family”, which Chauncey compares to “being in a soap opera, where everyone knows about everyone.”

LIVERPOOL Army Careers Office, on James Street, is open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday and 8pm Thursdays, and 10-2pm the first Saturday each month. For more information, call: 0151 236 1566.