Princess Leonor at the Naval Military School and some notes on the female cap

@DefAviation ES 8·31·2024 · 22:21 0

This week Her Royal Highness Princess Leonor entered the Spanish Navy officers' academy.

The Princess Leonor at the General Military Academy: some images that provoke pride
The King's visit to one of the most faithful military units at a critical moment for Spain

After beginning her training as an officer at the General Military Academy (AGM), the Army's officers academy, Leonor has begun her training at the Military Naval School (ENM) in Marín as a 1st Class Midshipman, that is, a third-year student. She will do four months of training at the ENM and then spend five months on board the training ship "Juan Sebastián de Elcano".

This moment is a source of pride for the Spanish Navy, as the heiress to the throne is in the institution that has been training officers for our naval force for many years. It has been training officers for over 300 years and forging a long tradition, since the former Academy of Marine Guards was founded in 1717 in Cadiz, a training that has been provided since 1943 in the town of Marín (Pontevedra).

As a Galician, I add that it is also a source of pride for Galicia to have the Princess of Asturias in our community, which has long maintained strong ties with the Navy and the ENM. This is where she will receive her seafaring training, in our Rías Bajas, which for so many years have seen the sailboats of the Navy sail in the process of training the ENM students. This is where she will learn to respect and dominate that great lord, the ocean, which bathes our coasts, which tempers our climate, which gives its fruits to our fishermen and which is implacable on stormy days.

You can see here a video published by the Royal Family that shows images of Princess Leonor's admission to the ENM:

And here are some pictures of his first day at the Naval Military School, including the first steps of his seafaring training on the sailboats that this academy has:

One of the things that has caught the attention of some people is that, unlike her uniform at the AGM, where she wore a peaked cap (for those who are not used to this term, it is the cap worn by officers of the Army), in the ENM Princess Leonor wears a different headgear, with a short brim, while the men wear a peaked cap.

This uniformity is governed by Order DEF/1756/2016, which established the current uniformity rules for the Spanish Armed Forces. The Army is the only branch of service in which women can choose either the peaked cap or the women's hat, which is the official name of the item of clothing worn by Leonor in the ENM. The exception is in formal and formal uniforms, where women must wear the women's hat. In everyday uniforms, gala uniforms and uniforms for events of special relevance, women can choose between both headgear.

However, in the Navy, the Air Force and the Joint Corps of the Armed Forces, women can only wear the female cap, with the peaked cap being reserved for men. I suppose the reason for the female cap is that this garment will be more comfortable if you have to wear a bun.

This female cap began to be used in the US Navy in 1942, when the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) was established. From there it has spread to other countries. Paradoxically, the US Navy, where the female cap was known as the "Bucket Cover", abolished it in 2018, establishing the peaked cap as a garment for both sexes. This decision was made to unify uniformity and because the "Bucket Cover" was considered an outdated garment. Personally, I am not entirely convinced, but there are colors for all tastes. I encourage you to leave your opinion in the comments.

Finally, you can see here a series of photos published by the Royal Family about Princess Leonor's beginnings at the ENM.