Titaua (pronounce Titawa with emphasis on the first syllable) left her native island of Taha’a (between Tahiti and Bora-Bora in French Polynesia) at 19, swapping her sarong for army fatigues. Ten years later she was an NRBC mechanic (nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical) in the 1st hunter regiment (1er régiment de chasseurs). “I wasn't too interested in studying and wanted to do something instead of spending my days hanging around outdoors. On top of which I didn’t want to stay in Polynesia and wanted to be closer to my sister, who’d been adopted in France,” she says. Some of her acquaintances, who were in the reserves, “encouraged me, helped me with the application formalities and prepared me, especially for the physical part by making me run and do suspensions,” she laughs…