First female reservist to pass P Company says fallen friend inspired her to succeed
The first female reservist to pass the Army's gruelling P Company course has paid tribute to her best friend, an officer in the Household Cavalry who died last year.
Lance Corporal Grace Cussons, who passed the Reservist All Arms Pre-Parachute Selection on the anniversary of Captain Lizzie Godwin's death, said she was the person who inspired her to succeed.
LCpl Cussons told BFBS Forces News how she felt Capt Godwin was with her during the course.
You need to give it a go
LCpl Cussons said: "One of my best friends who was in the House of Cavalry, Captain Lizzie Godwin, sadly passed away this time last year.
"She was a huge, huge inspiration for me as a woman in the military and the last conversation that we had before she passed, she said to me 'you need to go and give it a go. What's the worst that's going to happen?'.
"And so after she passed it felt like my duty to try and follow in her footsteps, and genuinely I felt like she was there with me throughout the course.
"I actually passed on the anniversary of her death, which felt quite serendipitous of achieving what sadly, she was never able to do.
"Hopefully now this is just the start and more people are going to want to come through this process or others and I am here to support them if they want my two pence of advice."
Twenty-eight-year-old LCpl Cussons described the moment she realised she'd made history becoming the first female reservist to pass P Coy.
"They shout out the numbers, then you come to attention, say 'Sir!' and then they say pass or fail. So they said '28'. I said 'Sir!' and then they said 'pass'.
"And I honestly, I was delayed to then say 'Sir' again, because I just couldn't quite believe that it had even happened. I was still expecting to hear the fail and be marched off the parade square."
Incredibly proud
She added: "I'm incredibly proud of myself, obviously, because it's been a year of training and day in and day out to get here, but my overwhelming feeling is just the hope that this inspires other women to give it a go.
"We have such a massive job to do of getting more women through arduous courses."
LCpl Cussons did all of this around applying for a new day job, which she starts this week leading the UK sales division of electric toothbrush brand Suri.
She serves as Detachment 2IC in 3 Squadron, the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) and will transfer into A (1st City of London) Battery, HAC (Tactical Control 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery) following her achievement.
You've got to really want it
She had a message for other women considering putting themselves through the test.
"You've got to really want it when it's lashing it down with rain outside, and you need to go out for two hours to complete a 10-mile tab," she explained.
"It can feel like the last thing that you want to do - you have to want it in the bad days and the good days. But equally, what's the worst that can happen? Put yourself forward. Go up for the parachute conditioning course and see whether you have what it takes."
And what's the reaction been to news of her achievement? "Overwhelmingly positive," she said. "I've honestly been so touched by people on social media reaching out, congratulating me, young and old.
"A guy messaged me who passed P Company in the 50s, so it's really lovely to see that former soldiers are supportive of those following their path of an airborne soldier."
Not all the responses have been supportive though.
"There has been some negativity which I think happens with anything where someone is the first to achieve something," she said.
"I just hope that people aren't dissuaded because there's a few people that aren't supportive. But yeah, honestly, I've never felt more touched by than by some of the messages that I've received."
Dealing with negativity
"I try to block it out because I mostly guarantee that they haven't done P Company, and I just hope that they find something better to do with their lives."
One of the most significant messages she received was from another female soldier who made history.
"So I heard from Addy Carter, who was the first non-commissioned soldier to pass. She very kindly sent me a message. And then I was already in touch with Captain Lucy Hammett, who was the first female doctor to pass because she had passed on the details of the person that I used to train for the programme.
"So it's been really lovely having messages of support, but not just messages of support from women, but also senior men in the Army.
"The former commanding officer of the HAC just sent me a message this morning and [I've] been having lots of reactions from other members of the military community, which is just so flattering."
This was LCpl Cusson's second attempt at facing the course. This time around she took on a personal trainer.
"I worked with Farren Morgan, who was an ex-Coldstream Guards soldier who is now a personal trainer for arduous courses, and he really helped adjust me from following doctrine, which was that P Company is quote unquote a running course, and therefore you just need to get out and run.
"Maybe that is true for people who've passed the course before, but I think as a woman, where there's no precedent for how to train for it, I quickly learned that I needed to get in the gym, do a lot more lower body strength."
There's plenty more still to do despite her passing P Coy. "I haven't actually reached the end of this process yet. The next stage is the basic parachute course, which will be where I train to jump out of a plane and become an airborne soldier," she pointed out.
"I've never jumped out of a plane before, so let's see how we get on with that. But I'm excited. I'm looking forward to the adrenaline rush. I've heard great things and people who are in the 16 Air Assault Brigade community have already told me that it's the best part."
The hardest thing
LCpl Cussons said "categorically beyond doubt" this was the hardest thing she's ever done - but defence is in her DNA.
"So my brother and my partner both serve," she said. And I called my brother a hat after about three seconds of having passed because he is not airborne himself.
"My parents are not military at all, so they just have had no idea what's going on. I think they watched a documentary on YouTube to try and get themselves in the zone, and then my partner's just been so supportive throughout the whole process.
"I think having people that understand what you're going through is incredibly important in terms of support network whilst you're in the lowest lows, and I'm really appreciative for that."
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