The young women putting PDF recruits through their paces

“More sweat in training means less blood on the battlefield!”—with this chant, a group of young people carrying rifles runs in formation around a dusty training ground. These trainees are new members of the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF), an armed resistance group waging a determined offensive against Myanmar’s military junta. Leading them in the chant are their uniformed instructors—all women around 20 years of age. When the military seized power nearly four years ago, women were often at the forefront of the protests that erupted around the country. But as the effort to restore civilian rule turned into an armed struggle, women began to play a less visible—but no less vital—role in the resistance movement. Ta Ta was just 15 when the February 2021 coup turned her world upside down. Like countless others, she joined the protests, and later acted as a scout for underground activist groups. But finally she decided she had to join an armed group, even if it meant working as a cook. After completing her basic military training, Ta Ta was assigned to various administrative duties. Eventually, however, she became an instructor herself. Now, at the young age of 19, she is a veteran trainer, having taught six basic training courses for new recruits. Male and female MDY-PDF recruits take part in a training exercise (Moe Oo / Myanmar Now) It’s a tough job, she says. Besides providing recruits with the skills they need to survive on the frontlines, she also has to teach them how to deal with the hardships of life deep in the mountains. The recruits come from many different backgrounds, she explains, and some have never experienced such harsh living conditions. “It’s very challenging—knowing how to guide them, how to instil discipline in them,” she says. But there is also another issue that she has to contend with: the fact that many of her trainees are young men who have a hard time taking their female instructors seriously. “In their minds, we’re just girls who can’t do anything. Only after we prove that we are capable will they accept and recognise us as instructors.” Ta Ta is one of eight women working as instructors for the MDY-PDF. Another is Lily, who joined the group in mid-2023 after serving as medic for an armed group based in northern Shan State for more than a year. “Since the trainees are people from all walks of life, they’re quite unruly and difficult to control. It’s pretty tiring,” she says, echoing Ta Ta’s assessment of their situation. “At first, there was disrespect, dismissiveness, and attempts to flirt and act inappropriately. It was difficult when I first became an instructor, but not anymore.” For Lily, who teaches practical lessons in both armed and unarmed combat, physical fitness, and weapons-related subjects, the effort to change the attitudes of new recruits paid off over time. Both men and women have joined the MDY-PDF and taken part in its basic military training program (Moe Oo / Myanmar Now) “In their minds, they distinguish between male and female instructors. It’s worse when they first arrive because they haven’t shed their civilian mindset yet. Just like in the city, they think girls, female instructors, don’t know anything,” she says. “Only after training do they develop the mindset that female instructors can do the same things as men.” Over the past year, the MDY-PDF has proven itself to be an effective fighting force, capturing territory near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. One of the areas it now controls is Singu Township, some 50 miles north of Mandalay. Yaung Ni, another female instructor for the MDY-PDF, is a native of Singu who witnessed firsthand just how capable the group has become since the days when it depended on ethnic armed organisations for basic military training. “I had plans to join the revolution before, but couldn’t due to family difficulties. But after seeing how our senior comrades fought in our village, I really wanted to work together with them. That’s why I contacted them and joined,” she says. As a relative newcomer, Yaung Ni says she still has much to learn. But what she already shares with her more experienced fellow instructors is a determination to continue the struggle until it succeeds in ending Myanmar’s long, dark era of military rule. “No matter when we joined, because the revolution isn’t over yet, we still have lots of work to do. We can still help a lot, we can still participate, we can still serve,” she says.

The young women putting PDF recruits through their paces

Female instructors have been instrumental in turning the MDY-PDF into the formidable fighting force that it is today

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