On a Mogadishu Parade Ground, a First for Somalia’s Future
The sun was already high over Mogadishu when the cadets squared their shoulders and stepped forward, eyes fixed, uniforms pressed to a razor’s edge. Families craned for a glimpse from beyond the rope line. A drumline fell quiet. And then, across the parade ground of the Türkiye–Somalia military academy, eleven young women took their oaths as officers — the first in Somalia’s history to do so.
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For a country that has endured war, state collapse, and a long insurgency, this was a moment heavy with symbolism and possibility. It was also, in that quiet way progress often arrives, a scene of ordinary pride: mothers dabbing tears with the edges of headscarves, little brothers waving tiny flags, instructors standing just a touch taller as their students crossed a threshold many thought would hold for a generation longer.
Breaking a Wall That Was Never Meant to Hold
The eleven women have completed three years of rigorous training at the academy in Mogadishu — known locally as TURKSOM — earning commissions in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. They graduate alongside a larger class of men and women now tasked with joining a national force under intense pressure to professionalize and perform.
“This is an inspiring dawn for the Somali National Army,” Battalion Commander Jamal Hassan Ali told the assembled crowd at the ceremony, praising the cadets’ discipline, courage, and perseverance.
His words echoed what many in attendance were already whispering: these officers mark not just a new intake of talent, but a breach in a long-standing barrier. Somalia’s armed forces, like many around the world, have historically skewed male. Opening the officer corps to women — and doing so through a marquee institution designed to set the standard — signals intent. It tells the country’s daughters there is room at the front of the formation, not only behind it.
Why It Matters Beyond the Parade
Somalia’s security transition is at a delicate juncture. For years, African Union peacekeepers have shouldered much of the burden of confronting Al-Shabaab while the Somali National Army (SNA) rebuilt from the ground up. That balance is shifting. The push now is toward a Somali-led force capable of holding ground, policing communities, and building public trust — not just clearing roads and staging raids.
Gender inclusion is not a panacea, but it can be a force multiplier. Two decades after the UN Security Council enshrined the Women, Peace and Security agenda, many militaries still field only small percentages of women, especially in combat and leadership roles. Yet research in peace operations suggests mixed-gender units can improve interactions with civilians, broaden intelligence channels, and reduce abuses — all vital in counterinsurgency and stabilization environments where legitimacy is as critical as lethality.
In practical terms, women officers can lead units, manage logistics, interrogate suspects in culturally appropriate ways, and engage communities that male soldiers cannot reach as easily. In symbolic terms, their presence offers a rebuttal to the extremist ideology that seeks to confine women’s roles. Every salute they render is a challenge to a narrative that Somalia has spent years trying to shake off.
Türkiye’s Long Bet in Mogadishu
Established in 2017 under a bilateral defense agreement, the TURKSOM academy is one of the most visible pillars of the deepening partnership between Somalia and Türkiye. Turkish instructors have trained thousands of Somali soldiers at the sprawling campus, turning it into a pipeline for new recruits and junior leaders. The facility is part of a broader Turkish footprint that includes humanitarian relief, infrastructure work, and political support — a relationship visible in everything from the rebuilt roadways of Mogadishu to the red crescent on aid trucks.
For Ankara, TURKSOM is about more than geopolitics. It’s a long-haul investment in institution-building, the kind that doesn’t make headlines every day but shows itself in standards, routines, and esprit de corps. For Somalia, it has offered continuity of training and a clear template for a disciplined, unified force. Graduates of TURKSOM have already taken frontline roles against Al-Shabaab, and they bring with them a shared doctrine and professional identity that Somalia’s fragmented security sector has sorely needed.
From Classroom to Front Line
Cadet life at the academy is intentionally demanding: early runs on dusty tracks, field exercises under heat that bleaches the sky, classroom drills in military law and leadership, and countless hours of weapons maintenance and map reading. Earning an officer’s commission means mastering all of it and then some — the “soft” skills of command as much as the hard edge of tactics.
For these eleven women, the next test begins now. They’ll be posted to units across the Army, Navy, and Air Force, where the conditions of their assignment will matter as much as the milestone. Will they be placed in meaningful roles with real responsibility? Will promotion boards evaluate them fairly? Will commanders stamp out harassment, and will the institution adapt with practical reforms — from tailored equipment to clear policies on parental leave — that help talent stay?
Across Africa, there are glimmers of what’s possible. In recent years, regional militaries have appointed women to command posts, deployed women to peacekeeping missions, and trained female pilots and engineers. Progress has been uneven, often slowed by budget constraints and institutional inertia. But there’s a through-line: when the policies are serious and the leadership is consistent, the pipeline widens.
Signals to Watch
- Assignments and command tracks: Are these officers placed in roles that build toward command and staff positions, not just administrative posts?
- Retention and promotion: Do the first cohorts stay, advance, and mentor the next?
- Operational impact: Do mixed-gender units improve civilian reporting, reduce misconduct, and solidify control in newly recovered areas?
- Policy reform: Are there updates to codes of conduct, reporting mechanisms, and equipment procurement that reflect a diverse force?
- Security transition: As international peacekeeping footprints adjust, can the SNA sustain tempo and hold territory with a professional, inclusive ethos?
A Small Step, A Larger Arc
It is tempting to file this morning’s ceremony under symbolism and move on. But symbols matter in places where the narrative has been dominated by violence and scarcity. A handful of young officers in crisp berets won’t decide Somalia’s future any more than a single rainy season ends a drought. Yet change often introduces itself quietly — in a gate opening that had long been closed, in a salute offered by someone who wasn’t there the year before.
Somalia’s story is too often told in the negative: what it lacks, what it cannot do, what it once was. The eleven officers who marched off the TURKSOM parade ground add a small but durable sentence to the other side of that ledger. They weren’t the loudest, but on this day they didn’t need to be. The cadence of their boots against the concrete said enough: we are here, we are ready, and we intend to serve.
For readers far from Mogadishu, there’s a universal question nestled inside this local breakthrough: What does security look like when it belongs to everyone, and not just to those who have always held it? Somalia, in its careful steps, is beginning to answer.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
