(Video) Army: inspiring journey of Lieutenant Nogaye Bèye, first Senegalese military woman admitted to the EAPI of Thiès March 25, 2026

At the Joint Application and Improvement School (EAPI) in Thiès, Lieutenant Nogaye Bèye, 25, made Senegalese military history by becoming the first and only woman in the country admitted to this school dedicated to the training of infantry officers.

Originally from Kaolack, she studied between her hometown and the boarding school of the Mariama Bâ high school in Gorée, where she obtained her baccalaureate. Very early on, attracted by a military career, she passed the competitive examination for the major army schools and was selected for five years of training in Turkey within the Army.

Back in Senegal, she continued her career at the 12th training battalion in Dakhar-Bango before joining the EAPI in Thiès, a historic step which made her the first Senegalese woman admitted to this structure.

Aware of the symbolic significance of her commitment, she declares: “It is an immense honor, but also a responsibility, because I am still the first and only woman in this weapon. » In her promotion made up of Senegalese and foreign trainees, she highlights cohesion: “We are above all brothers in arms. »

For her, the challenges remain mainly cultural. “The army reflects society. Some habits still need to evolve. » Her choice of infantry, which she considers to be “the essence of the military profession”, is fully accepted.

A pioneer in spite of herself, she insists on the demand for performance. “You have to earn your place, because failure could hold other women back,” she says, before recalling that, according to her, “command is based on competence, not on gender”.

Her message to young girls is clear: dare and believe in their abilities. An exemplary trajectory which illustrates the gradual opening of the Senegalese armies and the rise in power of women in bodies that had long been male.

Salla GUEYE- Abdou Khadir SECK- Pape Faye (video) and Moussa SOW (photos)