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In brief

People often ask me what its like to be a woman in the army. The answer is that Ive got no idea because Ive always been in the army ever since leaving university. Im proud to be a woman in the army.

Commanding a regiment is something that I have aspired to throughout my career and I feel incredibly privileged to be in this role. Its a 24-7 job, but I love it.

Ive been deployed to Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and travelled across the world in my career.

In my first job in 2000, aged 22, I was in charge of a troop of 30 all male soldiers in Germany. Women werent allowed into the Royal Engineers as soldiers until 1998, so there werent many women at that time.

I became an Adjutant, which is effectively a staff officer to the Commanding Officer. Then in 2005, I was deployed to Iraq for six months, where I was working all hours of the day, often through until midnight.

I really enjoyed my time in Iraq. There was a threat out there but its what we spent so long training for.

I met my husband in the army and we have two girls together who are aged eight and 10. I took a year maternity leave to have my first child and then went back to work. I felt ready to go back. My husband worked full-time as well but we had good childcare and always shared the pick-ups and drop-offs between us.

We bought a house in a place fairly near to a lot of military bases just before we had our first daughter and lived there for 10 years.

We were lucky you only find out where you are going to get posted at the end of your two years in each job so you cant really make a 10-year plan. But we were able to work close enough to home to be able to share the childcare.

My husband had transferred from the regular army to the reserve to give us a bit more flexibility Lt Col Katie Hislop

In 2013, I was deployed to Afghanistan. Professionally, going to Afghanistan was brilliant. At that stage, I was commanding a squadron of 120 people and we were exceptionally busy providing force protection across the whole of Helmand Province.

Leaving my children for five months was one of the hardest things Ive ever done. My husband had transferred from the regular army to the reserve to give us a bit more flexibility so that he could have more time with the children while I was away.

From a professional perspective, this was probably the most challenging and rewarding thing that somebody commanding a squadron could do. My husband and I decided we were happy for me to deploy. It was something I really wanted to do professionally and I think doing a job I love sets an amazing example to my children.

Men and women can return from deployments to find their children feel they dont know them Lt ColKatie Hislop

Our role in Afghanistan was to provide infrastructure support to all of the bases operating across Helmand. We also had to make sure the bases were well defended from Taliban attacks.

There is a period of adjustment when you arrive home after a deployment. You suddenly walk back into family life and it can take some time to get back to normal.

For some parents of very, very young children, some men and women can return from deployments to find their children feel they dont know them. We have a great welfare centre most regiments do who give advice on reintegrating with partners and children.

My family and I now live on the camp I work at in Catterick, in North Yorkshire.

Moving to the camp wasmore of a change for my children as they had to move to a different school. Thats something military children go through at least every two years in terms of finding a new school and making new friends.

Our girls have adapted very well to life on the camp. But if you continue to move around, the army will subsidise some of your boarding fees for keeping children in the same school.

There are quite a few couples who are parents and both in the military. Some are serving in the same area, some not, and all are juggling work and children between them.

For the last six months, Ive been training to be deployed to South Sudan in July, as part of the United Nations mission out there. Ill be in charge of a task force of 400.

I was expecting to go to South Sudan that is one of the reasons I asked for this job Lt Col Katie Hislop

Our role out there will be to help build more accommodation blocks, better roads and better security in order that the United Nations military can then protect the civilians in South Sudan who are in desperate need of protection and food.

I was expecting to go to South Sudan that is one of the reasons I asked for this job. Its a hugely interesting deployment and somewhere I have never been to before. Working with the UN means we will learn so much from the other nations who have been there for years.

I want women to know that it is genuinely possible to have a career in the army and a family. There are lots of options as to where you can be posted and the timings of where you could work that mean you really can have both.

However, its very important to make sure you have a network of support around you because it would be impossible for one person who is in the military to also have to do every single school run.

I feel really proud to be in the army, especially after recent events across the world. I think that we are valued and everywhere I go, particularly in the UK, people are always really positive when they find out what I do.

As told to Heather Saul

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I'm an army commanding officer, I've been to Afghanistan and Iraq and I've had two children - iNews