 Mel/Mélisende is a sergent-chef in the French Armée de Terre (land forces), equivalent to junior warrant officer in the UK forces. She chose to join as a direct entrant at the non-commissioned officer (NCO) level at 18. She could have gone to the officer training school at Saint-Cyr, but she had itchy feet after leaving school and wanted to get going with an active career rather than buckle down to more study. She’s twice refused promotion to a more senior position because those roles include much more admin. She might think about accepting her colonel’s recommendation for a commission as an officer in the future. Her priority remains serving in a front-line role. Well, for now…
So what’s the French Army like for a woman?
Today, the French military is one of the most feminised in the world; 17,3% or 34,701 of the 200,162 military are women. Israel leads as you might expect) with 33%, with Hungary at 20% and the US 18.8% (10.9% UK for info). French women could join the armed forces more than a century ago as part of the military health service. The first official unit of women military, nicknamed Merlinettes, worked as signals operators from 1942 based in North Africa. From 1972, women and men have enlisted under the same terms. But the percentages of women are highest in the health services (62% are women), then the air and space force, and navy with the land forces trailing at only 12%.
Women have reached all rank levels, including the highest command posts. In 1976, Valérie André was the first woman appointed to the rank of general. But there are still only around twenty across all branches today.
All trades and specialities are open to women, subject to merit and ability. In 2015, the first woman battalion commander was appointed at the officer training school of Saint-Cyr. In 2015, the Navy decided to include female officers (on an experimental basis) in a crew of a nuclear submarine in 2017. Women participate in external operations on the same basis as men, but in 2015, 6.7% of the French military overseas were women as were 4% of French forces serving with UN peacekeeping operations.
Yes, there is sexism, as in all military forces, but similar to many other countries’ armed forces, there is a strong formal structure in place to combat this. Of course, these things are never as straightforward as the written regulations would have them. Mel won’t stand any nonsense in this respect, but she doesn’t have eyes open in the back of her head all the time. However, respect is gained through achievement and as in every military force, ‘You’re only as good as your last job.’
Some facts and figures…
17,3% or 34,701 of the 200,162 military are women. (as at March 2025). This includes land forces, navy, air & space force and gendarmes.
6.7% of soldiers deployed in OPEX are women (opérations militaires extérieures de la France)
| Arms & services |
Rank (across all arms) |
| Land forces (Armée de Terre) 11.36% |
Officers 14.5% |
| Navy (Marine Nationale) 16.11% |
NCOs 17.4% |
| Air force (Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace) 28.35% |
Rank and file 13.2% |
| Defence Health Service (Service de Santé des Armées) 62.6% |
|
Source: Rapport Social Unique 2023, Direction des ressources humaines du ministère de la Défense
Where did Mel train?
Unlike in the British armed forces, applicants can join the French armed forces at NCO (sous-officier) level, but it’s an intense and steep learning curve! The National Active Non-Commissioned Officers School (École Nationale des Sous-Officiers d’Active, ENSOA) is a combined arms military school created by the French Army in 1963. As of 2006, the ENSOA also trains reserve NCOs. The school is located in Saint-Maixent-l’École in the Deux-Sèvres department, not that far from Mel’s Poitou home.
ENSOA provides eight months of intense military, intellectual and personal training for direct entry non-commissioned officer candidates as Mel was when she joined. They should be aged 18-29, hold a baccalauréat, (higher school leaving certificate), a higher technical certificate or a university diploma in technology. Around 45% of applicants are direct entrants; the other 55% come from the other ranks. As experienced soldiers, their conversion training is four months.
At the end of their course, subject to passing the assessment, the new non-commissioned officers are awarded a first level military certificate (CM1) and leave for specialist training in their chosen arm (army, navy air force). The ENSOA training programme is considered physically and mentally demanding, so you have to be pretty fit before joining!
From 2009, the school took over second level general training which prepares (now experienced) NCOs for advancement to the second part of their career.
And Mel, just before Double Identity?
She belongs to a specialist group of intelligence analysts attached to the special forces, based at Strasbourg. She has the reputation of determination and decisiveness. She is fluent in English, speaks some Italian and as a person of English and French parentage is equally at home with the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ mindset, an asset for liaison missions. Above all, she is an effective soldier.
A pity she’s leaving, her colonel says.
Read Double Identity to find out what happens the third day after she leaves…
Subscribe to my mailing list to receive, FREE, The Sand Beneath Her Feet, the prequel to Double Identity – Mel’s last mission in her military unit before the start of Double Identity. She doesn’t know that this will come back to haunt her in Double Pursuit, the sequel to Double Identity.
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers.
Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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Is it really fair? Double Identity went on tour round a series of respected blog hosts and I’ve been stuck at home, curfewed at 7pm. Well, that’s what we have to do at present. But where has lucky Double Identity gone? Here’s her road trip and some of the complimentary things her hosts said.
Click on the blogger’s name to read the full review.
Nevs Book Cave
“I fell in love with Mel instantly – she’s strong willed and able to take care of herself. You don’t want to get on her bad side as one of her fellow officers finds out… I found it very difficult to put down. It flows so easily and contains plenty of action. There’s plenty of twists and turns that keeps both Mel and us on our toes.”
Lucy at Bookworm Blogger
“Double Identity was action packed from the beginning…It was great to see the inner workings of an undercover team and whilst I had guessed the big revelation the final scenes were explosive and packed a punch. I’d be interested to see where Mel’s story takes her and if she gets into anymore mischief!”
AvonnaLovesGenres
“This is one of those perfect thrillers that you just cannot put down and you keep turning the pages until you get to the end. Mel is a wonderful new protagonist who is as intelligent and tough as any of the male protagonists out there in other thriller series.”
Stefanie at The Magic of Wor(l)ds
Ran an interview when I talked about writing habits, meeting Mel, silence and pinching characters from real life (You have been warned!)
Feel The Read
“Mel’s character is a very strong, independent & confident one, someone who takes charge of their life without any other person’s assistance. I loved every bit of her.” and “The language is lucid with a rich vocabulary & few French phrases here & there. Expect a lot of action. Some parts of the mystery & its unraveling were unputdownable.”
RamblingMads
“This was a really enjoyable, intelligent thriller with an interesting protagonist and full of intrigue and double crosses.
There’s lots of action but also lots of sifting through tedious CCTV and paperwork, making this feel a lot more realistic than some thrillers where they just know who all the players are with no work!”
Scintilla Connect
“…a high speed thrill ride of a novel, racing from twist to turn, throwing caution to the wind and characters to the wolves and readers better hold on and brace themselves” and “I found the action of the book exciting, but I also found the dilemmas faced by Mel’s heart to be compelling.”
Bookish Jottings
“Reminiscent of Evelyn Anthony’s classic tales of espionage and suspense, Alison Morton’s Double Identity is an expertly crafted and highly satisfying thriller readers will find hard to put down.”
Red Pillows
“I truly love how the characters are created in this book and Mel’s character was inspiring. She is a fresh new face and someone who is strong and can stand up for herself. I admired this in her and in the way the author made her the focus of the story.”
A Quintillion Words
“The French feel of the book was brilliant and you can instantly tell the author is from France with just how perfectly written dialogue is (not that I know any French!) This gave the book such a refreshing feel, and this didn’t seem to stop the more we get into the book. The way characters are questioned and the way the investigation played out was rather addictive to read, and the author’s character creation continued to impress me….A stunningly well put together thriller with just the right balance of action, suspense and even emotion. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!”
Wild Writing Life
“I’ve read it in one sitting without taking too much care of what was happening in my immediate reading and non-fictional reality. I simply could not give up following Mélisende´s search for the reason and the person who killed her fiancé”
David’s Book Blurg
“Something I’ve always enjoyed about the author’s work is the use of strong female leads and boy, does Mel pack a punch! There’s more than one bruised male ego in this tale..
For me it just worked, just the right amount of twists to keep you engaged, just the right amount of characters to not overwhelm you and detailed enough to allow you to fall in love the characters and their development.
Another cracking read from Alison Morton!”
#prdgreads
“The story was fast paced and left you hanging at the edge of most chapters – it was so hard to put down.”
Jessica Belmont
“Double Identity by Alison Morton is a book I really couldn’t set down. I definitely made the mistake of starting this one before bed, and stayed up too late trying to finish.
Mel is an awesome heroine. I love how feisty she is. She’s skilled in self-defense…. However, she’s gusty, and really intriguing to read. Underneath her hard exterior, she is vulnerable. The kind of lead I enjoy reading.
This is a fast-paced thriller. Alison Morton‘s writing is tightly knit, with the attention to detail being really impressive.”
Beyond the Books
“A story that incorporates plenty of different threads. International criminals, blackmail, fraud with a multi-agency investigation from France, the U.K and Brussels creating a whirlwind read packed with action and thrills. I do hope there is another book to come as I think we have only scratched the surface of Mel.”
I’m thrilled out of my socks that bloggers and readers are enjoying Mel’s adventures so much. A prequel The Sand Beneath Her Feet is available as an exclusive gift when you sign up to my newsletter and a second novel is in draft…
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers.
Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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 The Book Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G.) are a tough lot. When my first book, INCEPTIO, went forward in September 2013 for their consideration, they were rejecting 90% of submissions.
Luckily, I didn’t know that at the time or I might have been a GREAT deal more nervous. But Carina would have told me to ‘gather up my grit.’ And I have no reason to think they’ve changed from that. So, despite all six full-length Roma Nova novels having won the medallion, when I submitted Double Identity to them, I did chew my lips more than a little.
Double Identity‘s Mel is both so different and so similar to Roma Nova’s Carina and Aurelia. Would the readers take to her? This is what they said about her first adventure:
Title: Intriguing, forceful, appropriate to the story 5
Cover: Striking, professional looking, appropriate to the story 5
Plot: Original, compelling, engaging, coherent 4
Characters: Interesting, appealing, believable 5
Dialogue: Authentic, quotable, advances the story 5
Writing Style: Distinctive voice, pleasing rhythm, evocative 5
Chapters: Logical flow, advance the story, build momentum 5
Copy Editing: Grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice 5
Content (Developmental) Editing: Structure, coherence, continuity, accuracy 4
Formatting: Front matter, layout, font 5
Additional Comments
“I have read three of this author’s Roma Nova series, all of which I loved. The author is clearly a very prolific and talented writer; however, while I enjoyed this book, I did not like it as much as the others I have read. The main criticism I have is that I found the story overly expository. Although the author has an admirable history of military service, it seemed to me that she was trying too hard to demonstrate this experience and knowledge through the action and dialogue. Having said that I liked Mel and felt she was believable. In conclusion, this is a very good book and certainly deserving of the B.R.A.G. Medallion, but in my estimation, it falls a bit short of the usually high caliber of the author’s work.”
“Truly superb writing! Characters, dialogue, the building of tension, all are handled masterfully by author Alison Morton. Her detailed knowledge of military matters in both England and France is very impressive. And the richness of her imagination in producing twists of plot is breath taking. Some American readers may find her use of English slang daunting, but Morton captures an authenticity of tone that places this work into the realms of literary reality with the very best of mystery writers.”
“Excellent thriller! Exciting, well written, memorable characters, no plot holes, minimal typos.”
I think I can live with this! 😉
This is a high honour in the world of indie publishing.The time and trouble IndieBRAG readers devote to the process is self-evident. And Geri Clouston leads them with professionalism, friendliness and deep understanding of the book world. I am honoured to belong again to a select group of authors and delighted for Double Identity to be featured on their website.
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers.
Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
If you enjoyed this post, do share it with your friends!Like this:Like Loading...
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