WHEN Lieutenant Commander Sophie Hill served in Afghanistan, the challenges were many.
Based at NATO headquarters in Kabul, where she advised International Security Assistance Force commanders on legal matters, she contended with daily threats of attack in one of the world's most volatile military zones.
But Lieutenant Commander Hill also had other things on her mind: she had left her son Christopher, then 11 months, at home in Crib Point.
It wasn't easy, she admitted, but it was "do-able", partly because her husband, Commander Mark Hill, who had recently taken over the reins at HMAS Cerberus naval training base in Crib Point, became a dedicated sole parent for six months, but also because the Royal Australian Navy made it so.
"The support I got from the navy and other women who had been to sea was fantastic," she said.
"Professionally, it was incredible - I was able to do a huge amount of work for which I had been training for a number of years - and when I got back I was allowed lots of time off to re-bond with Christopher."
It is part of the RAN's New Generation Navy program, which Chief of Navy Russ Crane announced in November 2008, with the aim of "working smarter, not harder" and "improving work/life balance".
For Chief Petty Officer Nicole Grundy, who joined the navy straight out of high school at 17, the initiatives reinforce her experience of navy life.
A medical sailor who often works with clearance divers - the only naval unit not open to women - she has two toddlers and her husband, a customs officer, is often away on assignments in Antarctica or Christmas Island.
Her children, Lola and Sadie, attend the childcare centre on the naval base at Crib Point where she is based.
"I've been the only female in a unit of 70 men sometimes and I've never had a problem with that," she said.
Chief Petty Officer Grundy has served at sea in the Solomon Islands peacekeeping force and in Australian and Asian waters on the mine hunter HMAS Diamantina and the transport ship HMAS Manoora.
"For me, that's the ultimate," she said.
"That's what the navy does - border protection, regional stability, humanitarian assistance. Sea is what we do."
While it might sound like a RAN recruitment ad, both women said they were attracted to the navy by the training opportunities and varied jobs on offer.
Aged in their early 30s, both women have risen steadily through the ranks and Chief Petty Officer Grundy said sailors were encouraged to undertake officer training when they reached the top non-commissioned rank of warrant officer, the next step for her.
"I've been very lucky with promotion chances and I look for a job where I can contribute more.
"It's about sustaining a career you are happy with and that is fulfilling."
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