Women in the Army in Times of Peace

Antonia Dika in conversation with Svetlana Janković, a former JNA-officer. Svetlana worked as a lieutenant of the traffic department in the Šepurine barracks near Zadar. She is one of few women who served voluntary military service in the JNA in the short period when it was made possible, from 1983 to 1985. After graduating from the Faculty of Defense and Protection in Belgrade, she started to work in the army as a lieutenant.

SJ: There were two categories of women who served in the army. The first category were women who served for three months. They were regular soldiers. And there was us, who served for six months; it was like a school for reserve officers, accepting girls and women who met specific requirements, like enrolling in university. When I served in the army, we had three months of training in certain centres – one centre per each republic – and then three months of traineeship.

People who chose this profession were enrolling in military academies, military high schools...  And these were mostly men; women couldn’t do it back then. Those were rare cases, like me and my colleagues.

There weren’t any exact rules defining who would be accepted and who wouldn’t. Basically, it depended on people on boards, people who were making the decision, so they accepted women or they didn’t accept them. I don’t know if they were gender-conscious or they just looked at the papers.

Anyway, those women who served the army, but were not persistent enough to become part of the official military, like I was, they remained in Territorial Defence. But there were several categories of women in the army. For example, women with a university degree in defence. At the Faculty of Civil Defence, you have six months of training. You learn how to shoot, you have exercises in tactics, defence, and so on. Before that, you have theory classes. For example, military economy, military psychology, economy of defence, theory of war, military geography, military history, contemporary weapons and military equipment, civil protection, nuclear-biological-chemical defence, military topography and so on. And when you complete all that, you get the rank of a reserve second lieutenant. In other words, you get a military rank, but in reserve.

Territorial defence consisted of reserve defence units. It had its weaponry, and its task was to defend the territory. That was the concept of the so-called armed nation. Actually, the entire concept of the Yugoslav People’s Army was based not on aggression, but only on defence.

AD: So, there were many female soldiers in Territorial Defence, but there were not many of them in the regular army?

SJ: Yes. Most women in the Yugoslav People’s Army worked as civilians. For example, dactylographers, secretaries, doctors at the army’s outpatient clinic, nurses, cooks in the army kitchen, workers at the army’s dry cleaners… As for the military command, it was a rare thing to have a woman there. I think there were a couple of dozens of them, altogether.

AD: But why didn’t they accept women in the JNA before? They did play a huge role in the partisans. And then the socialist self-governing society, female workers…

SJ: Maybe there was a fear that women might introduce a completely different perception of things, of defence, and… Well, it’s not uncommon, as a leader, you use you resources while you need them. And if you hold a certain position, you will get rid of everything that may be a burden to you.

But you also have the situation when women grow tired of it all. They want to start a family, have kids and all. And, of course, such situation takes you away from the front lines. This is something my colleagues still describe as a problem when you have women in the military. But I say, that can’t possibly be a problem. You have that situation in all professions, not just military.

Moreover, women in the military often make a lot of sacrifice. Military calling is very demanding. You have a 24-hour watch, for example. And you have inspections. When my Ninoslav was a little boy, I was there, working, and he got a high fever. I couldn’t leave the place and go to him, because we were waiting for a general to perform an inspection. I told my mother, do everything you can to lower his temperature, I’ll be home as soon as the inspection is over... Today, when I look back, I wonder if all that was worth it, and what things should be taken as priority in life.

AD: How come that a pacifist like you decided to work in the army? Or was it the concept of defence army, the army for peace that was crucial for your choice?

SJ: Well, let’s be realistic, do you think I had this experience and way of mind when I was 26? Of course I didn’t. The military was a challenge for me back then, you know, when they said “women can’t do that”. Well, yes, they can!

When I graduated from university, I was keen to get a job in the army and I applied everywhere I could. And then, when I lost all hope, they called me up for an interview and I was accepted. But you could see that the environment was not suitable for women. The requirements for getting a rank in reserve army were not the same as in active service. However, later I succeed in that. It was the period when unemployment rate grew, and the state is the safest employer after all. I really wasn’t thinking about peace or anything in particular. I just wanted a job that was challenging. Women can’t do that… says who? When I started working in the army, I had the same treatment as men. If the command was to do 20 push-ups, I had to do 20 push-ups. If the command was to walk 20 kilometres, I walked 20 kilometres, too.

AD: In those two years when women could serve in the army, was there a huge interest?

SJ: Yes, the interest was huge. I remember I had to pull some strings to get into the first class. In 1983, ’84, ’85, the interest was enormous. But then the state, for reasons unknown to me, revoked the decision that allowed women to serve in the army. I was too young then to understand the social context as I understand it now. I don’t know the true reason why they banned women from the army. Maybe it was a large and unnecessary investment and there was no effect from it. I suppose the economic feasibility of the project was the main reason for abandoning the idea. I really don’t know.

But there’s one more thing. In the ‘80s, all boys and girls who didn’t finish high school had to complete a pre-military training. That was the rule in the entire Yugoslavia. They had to complete the training within two weeks, or within a month – I don’t remember exactly, even though I was in charge of the women in the neighbouring town, Gornji Milanovac. That was a unit of some twenty people from Čačak, boys and girls who didn’t finish school, primary school or high school, but who had to complete the premilitary training. Back then, in the 80s, we had defence and protection as a subject in high school. So, everyone who didn’t finish high school had to pass the course in defence and protection, because that was in the interest of the state. That was also a mandatory subject in first and second year at the university. Just as physical education or foreign language were mandatory subjects… Anyway, defence and protection was considered an integral part of education, and people had to learn the basics at least, as the future highly educated citizens. This is how the state implemented its concept of national defence and social self-protection.