Rio de Janeiro (RJ) – The blue cap identifies the instructors at the Brazilian Army’s Paratrooper Instruction Center, located in Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). In 2019, Sergeant Alessandra Cristina Lopes Alves became the first female instructor of the Paratrooper Basic Training Course, a position she held until last year.
Her appointment as an instructor was the result of a rigorous selection process. In 2016, the sergeant completed the Jump Master Course, which trains the soldier responsible for leading the team and jumping ahead of the other paratroopers. She was then assigned as a jump master in a team made up only of men.
During her time as an instructor, Sergeant Cristina Lopes was responsible for conducting jump training from the C-95 Bandeirante aircraft, and for ensuring the preparation and readiness of students and trainees. Her role was also important in training more female paratroopers. She proudly comments on the experience of taking part in the instruction team. “As an instructor, I was able to wear the blue cap and lead the future Army paratroopers to the dream jump from the aircraft to the drop zone.”
However, the path wasn’t easy. She faced several challenges during the Basic Parachute Course, such as the long days of instruction and the high level of physical strain the students are subjected to. However, she never thought of giving up. “My desire to become a paratrooper was always much greater than my desire to leave,” she said. On overcoming her fears, she added. “That’s life. We have to learn to overcome our limits”.
Staff Sergeant Cristina Lopes tells how her career was inspired by her father, a veteran of the Brazilian Air Force. She now seeks to reproduce her father’s example and be a source of inspiration for other women who wish to follow the military life and take up parachuting.
In 2023, she left for new challenges. She completed the Pantanal Adaptation Internship and joined the 18th Pantanal Infantry Brigade in Corumbá (MS).
Pioneering paratroopers
The history of the Army’s paratroopers began in 2006, with the training of two lieutenants, Paula Raquel da Silva Bittencourt (a dentist) and Ivi Costa Rocha dos Santos (an engineer), as the first military paratroopers. In 2009, health sergeants Esther Varjão and Juliana Rodrigues de Souza became the first career military women to complete the Free Jump Internship. In the same year, Sergeant Carolina de Sá Martins was the first to be awarded the title of Jump Master.
Today, around 161 women wear the garnet beret, brown boot and silver wings, symbols of the Brazilian Army’s paratrooper mystique.