The Revd Ailsa Whorton has successfully passed an intensive training course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and remains a self-supporting minister with PTO in the Diocese of Chester.
Back in August, the Revd Ailsa Whorton was a curate at St Michael’s Newton, West Kirby, and about to embark on a big change in her life by joining the Army as a Chaplain. Her entrance into the Army was by no means assured as she had to pass an intensive training course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Ailsa has recently completed the course and is now based in the 4th regiment of the Royal Artillery, in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire.
"It was really, really hard. We had to work late, sometimes staying up until 1am and then having to get up at 5am; always on the go. I was pushed to my limits and there were times that I almost gave up,” says Ailsa about the training course.
Comments like this are uttered from the mouths of almost everyone who goes through the grueling regime of the officer training programme, which is designed to push and test the limits of people's resilience and determination.
What is unusual about Ailsa's story is that she did all this at the age of 53, 17 years older than anyone else she was training with. When Ailsa signed up to the Army she was told she will be the oldest female to have ever been recruited as a Chaplain.
In a tweet published by the Army, Ailsa is pictured on the assault course along with the caption. "Here we have Rev Ailsa Whorton, Chaplain to @4RegtRA, (the oldest person on the course!)"
Ailsa giving the thumbs up
Ailsa feels that by making a point of her age, the Army was empowering many people to consider a military career when they might not have thought they were eligible.
Ailsa says: "Only 9.8 per cent of the Army are female, so, if someone like me can do it, maybe more women might be inclined to think that they can too.”
As one of seven chaplains on the course, among an intake of about one hundred and sixty, Ailsa was often asked about her faith and God by some of the other recruits, most notably the younger ones.
Even though free time was a valuable commodity, a number, some who had never been to church before, asked Ailsa to attend chapel with her. "The times of quiet prayer and contemplation in the chapel brought a much-needed sense of stillness and refreshment in a place of chaos that we were all in."
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