Inspiring People: FMPD officer completes DOD pilot test for women in infantry

Fort Myers police officer Harlee Bradford was one of four women to make it through a Department of Defense pilot program to see if women could pass infantry school. “I can’t do that” is not in her vocabulary.

On a Sunday night, Bradford was at the intersection of Fowler and Hanson streets, once again investigating a traffic death in Fort Myers.

“Person was crossing the street, didn’t have any lights on their bike and got struck by a vehicle who had the right of way,” Bradford said.

While she’s not the only woman in the Fort Myers Police Department, it’s still a man’s world.

“If you want to be equal to, let’s say, a man, physically, you have to work harder,” Bradford said. “Maybe not mentally. But physically, you do.”

That “no sugar-coating it” attitude lead to Bradford breaking battlefield barriers. She’s one of four women who completed the Department of Defense’s 59-day course to prepare people for combat, encompassing such areas as physical fitness, land navigation and knowledge of weapon systems. Even at 5’3, the physical part has always been Bradford’s strength, but she says knowing future women’s careers depended on her was a heavy weight to carry.

“Failing is not an option at all, like, ‘I will pass out and you will have to drag me,'” Bradford said.

Bradford completed the program and graduated. She has a message for any woman who grapples with self-doubt.

“Fr you to overcome that mental block that is, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’m good enough,’ or whatever, you kind of just have to say, ‘Well, I am good enough,’ and that’s it,” Bradford said.

Her next step is training for and participating in strongwoman competitions. Bradford says WINK News may one day do a story on her for being the world’s strongest woman.