Soldiers spend their entire lives training how to subdue the enemy in the shortest possible time, survive in the harshest of environments, and ultimately triumph over their adversaries.
For the Kenya Defence Forces troops involved in Operation Linda Nchi in Somalia, going after and subduing Al-Shabaab militants marks the highest points of their careers.
Though most of these are men, typical hardy soldiers whose lives revolve around fighting and conquering the enemy, a small number of them are women. (SEE IN PICTURES: KDF in Somalia)
Although they are not at Bur Gabo, a strategic town 60 kilometres inside Somalia that is the frontline, they have been at Ishakani, the camp that is the launchpad of the assault, and are raring to go.
Phyllis Semo, a bubbly 25-year-old from Webuye, thrice failed to qualify for recruitment into the Kenya Army at Panpaper Stadium near her home.
She opted to join the National Youth Service and was fortunate that the army decided to recruit from the ranks of the service in 2007.
They reckoned that if Ms Semo could survive the punishing routines at the National Youth Service, she was up to the task of taking up arms to defend her country.
“I was happy because I always wanted to join the army,” says Ms Semo, who is comfortable walking around at all times with the nine-kilogramme G3 rifle, which she had set aside for an M4 rifle at the time of the interview.
Caroline Langat, Ms Semo’s colleague at Ishakani, which is a short distance from the border with Somalia, also served at the NYS before she got the opportunity to join the army.
Ms Langat, a 23-year-old from Mogon in Nakuru, is shy and not as talkative as her colleague, but her eyes light up when she talks about life at the camp.
“It is a privilege to be here because I will tell my children about this when I am older and I will be proud to have done my part,” says Ms Langat, who is single but has a boyfriend.
Ms Semo interrupts: “You know, in future, children will be taught about the time Kenya finally decided to deal with the Al-Shabaab. I’ll be happy to tell them I was there.”
Ms Semo and Ms Langat are part of a crew posted to one of the observation posts at the camp by the sea, which has a view of the ocean at the point where the Kenya-Somalia border is marked by a large beacon in the water.
They said they were acutely aware of the perception among the public that Kenya’s peacetime army spent a lot of time training, and not fighting, and would be happy to disprove that.
The two, who have been at Ishakani since December 2010, have watched as the threat from Al-Shabaab grew and came to a head in September and October this year. (READ: Why Al-Shabaab loved Ras Kamboni town)
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