A Day In the Life of a Military Woman

Posted: 24 JUN 03: Life of an Army Second Lieutenant Deployed

My day starts off depending on what shift I am working this week. I report at 2100, 1400, or 0600. I am a Second Lieutenant in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Not exactly where I thought I would be entering into Officer Basic Course one year ago from this date. I had worked my way up the Enlisted Ranks and found myself wanting to act as a voice for the Troops. Therefore, I decided to become a commissioned officer. To be a female officer generally makes you a minority, however, to be a commissioned female officer in Cuba, makes you even more of one....1 to 67 ratio to be exact. I cannot discuss the mission in Cuba due to OPSEC and current events, however, I enjoy what I do and I do not let the gender issue phase me unless someone else brings it up. I am one of three female Military Police Lieutenants that perform specific duties such as my male counterparts in Cuba. Although there are other female Lieutenants, my job involves much interaction with the opposite sex and professionalism is key. I have a wonderful Platoon Sergeant that has guided me through these past eight months of deployment and I know it has made me a much stronger officer due to his knowledge and professionalism as a Senior Non-commissioned officer. I miss not having a family and feel as though I must give something up to have my career, however, I know in time when I do have a family, they can be proud that their mother was able to complete such an important mission and with that, has made me a well rounded person. I will receive my 1LT shortly and I will take the challenge of what mission

lies ahead.

Posted: 28 Aug 01:

I wake up at 0530 on a normal work day. A normal work day is one when I don't have to wake up at 0400 and get ready and be at work by 0600 to get my brief ready to give to the wing commander. Anyway, you'll see why I need so much time. I get up and take my shower. I pull my hair back, which takes a couple minutes due to the length and put on my boots and uniform. I then put my make up on (yes I wear make up, I'm in a high vis job) and then I wake up my son. I get him wrangled up and make him a quick breakfast and get him dressed and ready for the day. I leave for work at 0630 so I can get him to day care and get into work at about 0720. I start by checking what is happening in the world. I find out what brief I have to give that day and to who. Then I really start my research. I usually have my power point slides (!) ready by lunch time. After lunch I rehearse my brief and finally around 1430, gather everyone so they can hear the current intel for the day. After that I usually sit around and take a breather with my friends for about 10 minutes. I then start my slide layout for the next day. When 1615 rolls all of us airmen pick up the office and take the trash out. After that, who ever is the last one in the office closes the vault. A typical Air Force day ends at 1630. I head out to daycare to pick up my son and we go home. I make him and myself some dinner. After dinner we play and he finally goes down to bed at 2000. I use that time to iron my uniform and shine my boots and get any laundry or house cleaning done. I make sure my son has clothes picked out for the next day and I get myself into bed at about 2230. I love each and every great Air Force day I have.

Posted: 17 Aug 01:

No PT for me. That would take too much time away from standing watch down in the plant. Believe me when i say i would much rather be running than standing 6 and 6's in a nuclear power plant. This is the life that I chose. Endless tests ( no multiple choice here) endless qualifications, formulas, equations, theories... my head throbs by the end of the day. First on the boat the last off, life as a nuc is harsh. I laugh when i here the topsiders complain about standing duty. Ten section is unheard of down here. the best I'll get is four, three when we are lucky. No I will never see combat face to face. But i am here behind the scenes making the steam to launch the planes, to propel the ship and the electricity to power everything. It is very dirty unrewarding work. the extra hazardous duty pay is a joke when considering the hours we keep in comparison to the others on this boat. if it wasn't for the sixty some odd college credits earned for this rating I'd rather be a yeoman.

Posted: 8 Aug 00: In the US Coast Guard

My day begins at 0545 in the morning, shower, iron, polish, dress. Muster on the quarterdeck at 0630. Go down to the boats. Light them off and check for operational readiness. 0720 to the galley we all go (Its almost a mass migration). 0755 muster on the training deck/rec. deck (they are both in the same. Small station;) for quarters and pass down. 0830 quarters is over or we have training, then Deck and Eng. divide into two. Each department has another pass down. The second passed down is to divide up work and clear up confusion. 0845 turn to. 1125 secure. 1130 chow is piped. 1230 turn two. 1700 chow is piped. 1800-2100 turn to (depending on the project). 2200 taps.

You see this schedule is very tentative. At any give moment we drop what we were doing to do sar (search and rescue). That is what we are really here for. During that time there is no telling about the day ahead.

I have been in the coast guard for a year and about 2-3 months. This is my first duty station. I love it. You never know what you will be doing. I work 2 days 2 days off and sliding weekends and am subject to recall at any time because of how small the station is. If the station needs me I am here, no complaints. Yes I might be two hours from the nearest Wal-Mart and a hour and a half from a gas station but I do love it.

Posted: 3 Aug 00: "A Day in the Life of a Coast Guard Woman"

You awake at 0200 to the unmistakable sound of the S.A.R. alarm, followed by a voice saying "capsized vessel with 06 PIW (People In Water) 25 miles off Midnight Pass. It's a sound that will send a jolt of energy through your body like no cup of coffee ever could. You fly out of the rack in search of your uniform, throwing it on, all the while hoping you are looking sharp and within uniform regulations; not that the people struggling in the water really care what your wearing or that your hair looks unsat. You race to the communications center fighting with your legs all the way trying to convince them to wake up with the rest of your body and move faster. Once at COMM CEN you get the position and the wind and seas conditions. A trip to the armory

to pick up your favorite 15 lb accessory, your weapons belt, and out the door with your boat crew. Quick stop at the weapons loading station to insert your rounds and finally you make the mad dash to the boat feeling

like a pack mule with your gear bag, gun belt, body armor, cell phone, hand held radios, charts, and PFD. Once on the boat you stow gear, start engines and electronics (hoping it works) and your off at top speed cutting through the darkness of night. Thank goodness for radar and GPS. You've got about an hour before you reach the scene and that's allot of time to think about everything... "Are they going to make it until we can reach them?" "I bet they're scared." "Are there any children?" "Is anyone hurt?" "I hope we can find them quick." "I don't want to recover any bodies tonight." "I love my husband." "I wish this boat could go faster." Allot of thoughts run through you as you continue to navigate the dark waters. You approach the scene where they are supposed to be and brief the crew... "OK, were approx. 03 miles from the position given and I want all hands to keep a sharp look out for anything and everything, report all sightings to the coxswain and crew out loud. Minutes go by and you see nothing but white caps and black night. Then you see something, or did you? "Hey, I think I have something over here!" "Come to port at 270deg." Finally, you see what you've been praying for. The crew gets ready to bring the cold but grateful survivors onboard the Coast Guard boat for a safe trip back the sanctuary of terra firma. Back at the Coast Guard base the sortie is complete and you

crawl into the rack at 0500 to catch a few winks before reveille. What a night.

Posted: 19 Jul 00: In Response to the 9 May 00 Post:

This is in response to the message posted on 9 May 00 by the Fort Drum soldier. I just wanted everyone to know that things here are not as bad as she made it seem. First of all, we start our day at 0700 and only do one hour of PT, not like many other units who start their days at 0600 or sometimes even earlier. I pretty much roll out of bed at 0630. As for the 35 lb ruck requirement, all that consists of is a pair of BDUs, boots, a towel, and a few other things. Some units even include the weight of the LCE and kevlar in the 35 lbs! And you will never see a unit doing PT outside if the temperature and wind chill factor is below 20 degrees Farenheit - EVER. We even have a guy named "Safety Bob" who drives around during PT making sure things like that don't happen. The rest of my day is spent working in my MOS. In my unit the only soldiers working out of their MOS are the pregnant ones. The MI unit probably doesn't have a big peacetime mission so when they're not in the field they don't have much to do. It's not like Northern New York is overrun with a large Spanish speaking population to interrogate. Training schedules are posted in every shop and office and anyone can look at them whenever they want, and it is an inspectable item, so all units comply with this. PT in the non-combat arms units is so easy that if you don't do PT on your own you won't pass your PT test. Also in order to keep soldiers E-4 and below past 1700 hours you must have permission from the Assistant Division Commander and you can bet that if you don't ask him at least a day in advance that it will be disapproved. Every month we either have a three or four day weekend, without fail. The first Friday of every month is a half day for pay day activities and sometimes they even throw in another half day called Mountain Soldiers time. People who work when they have off are authorized compensation time, and if they are too stupid to speak up and take it then it's their own fault. Obviously life is not perfect and sometimes rules get broken but all in all we have it pretty easy here. The biggest complaint is the cold and the lack of entertainment. It does snow about six months of the year but during that time frame we do PT indoors, except for running. I've been here since 1996, my first and only duty station, but it's been a good tour. Fort Drum is not bad at all if you come with the right attitude, and for people with spouses and kids it is excellent - you are constantly being allowed to take care of them in their appointments and such. And there are so many places you can visit on one of those long weekends in this part of the country, such as Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, NYC, PA, etc. The days are so busy here they just fly by.

Posted: 28 Jun 00
This is the soldier from the message posted 07Jun 00

Yes I am in KOREA!! Congratulations to those who knew. I guess you been here or know someone who has before.

And yes I am in Yongsan now and leave Yongsan in 5 months for the 2ID probably Camp Casey.

My MOS is 71M but a good guess from the Ranger. 96 series is the chaplain series and 71M is Chaplain Assistant soon to be reclassified in the 96series as we are not ADMIN personnel.

This is my first active duty station and I love it. Sure there is stuff I hate too but that's like every other job in the world nothing is perfect.

Anyway thought I would close out the mystery. I became a chaplain assistant because my major is Theology and I plan on going to Bible College. At the same time I tend to be "gung ho".

By no means am I saying women should be a NAVY SEAL or anything. I just want people to look around them and consider what others go through and what they have, and what is the benefit of what they do. For me I try to help soldiers with whatever problems they throw at me.

That is another option for the soldier at FT Drum to visit her Chaplain if she does not wish to start ruckus. No hard feelings in sounding too harsh. Just don't like people to give bad impressions on female soldiers.

Posted: 27 Jun 00
"In Response to the 7 Jun 00 Post"

First, I would like to accept at least part of the challenge presented. This female soldier appears to be in Korea. As to specifically where and what MOS, I would hazard to guess Seoul (Yongsan) and a 96 or 98 series. Just a guess. Also, I would like to congratulate her on the outstanding PT accomplishment. A 300 score is not a trivial matter and is something most soldiers (male or female) can't achieve.

I spent 15 years on active duty in Ranger and Special Forces units all over the world. My last duty assignment was 1/3 SFG(ABN) at Fort Bragg. I never really worked much with, or encountered female soldiers until I arrived at Fort Bragg. Due to my assignment, I interfaced with female soldiers from various SOCOM and JSOC elements as well as Fort Bragg units. My impression of female soldiers was drastically changed from mere toleration to admiration. Women in the military have a difficult time and are to be commended for their accomplishments.

I whole heartedly agree with what this female soldier stated. I loved every minute of my service and am exceptionally proud of my accomplishments. Love it or leave it is my motto. Quit sniveling and do your job or get out. Females in the military who do nothing but complain about every issue are only making things that much harder for the ones who truly want to be there and render service to their country.

Posted: 27 Jun 00
"In Response to the 7 Jun 00 Post"

I would like to take a guess at where this young woman is stationed. It sounds like KOREA! And she is so right about how much Americans are spoiled and how much we take for granted. The kids there go to school for alot more hours than Americans do and they go on Saturdays also. You tell a little American child that they are going to have to go to school for that long and see if they don't have a fit. As to her MOS, I have no clue!

Posted: 7 Jun 00

This is not an SA, however I did believe this site was to promote women in the armed forces. Allowing SAs as the FT Drum one posted May 00 is an insult to female soldiers and all soldiers. It is no more then wining. If the soldier is not being used in her MOS and her contract is being broken she needs to see JAG.

However PT is nothing to complain about. Rather then complain she might try getting along with her trainings office and discussing topics. If they break regulations then she needs to go to the IG.

As far I see I would love a unit like that with some real PT. I have a 300 on my PT and out - due many males. I am not bragging but stressing the military is not a civilian world and too many soldiers are trying to make it like a civilian job. But civilians don't fight in combat and that's our MAIN mission whether you are a linguist support unit or anything else!

I am stationed overseas now for 7months where living conditions are below standard I have no air ventilation and they are definitely not regulation. Where we are stationed there is not enough living quarters for the mass of soldiers so soldiers get crammed 3 in a 2 man room barely enough room to open our wall locker drawers to get dressed.

But I have learned something here which is to adapt, overcome, sacrifice, and build friendships that are strengthened by hardships we endure. I would not give that up for a big room, soft bed, better food, lighter training or anything else.

My point is that a site to promote soldiers should not be used to insult them. By the way I am not an old fashion soldier. I am a 19 year old female soldier who has not been home in 7months and I have extended overseas another year. As well my mid-tour leave was cancelled but that's a sacrifice and selfless service.

And where I am stationed I see families in one room apartments where 5 people sleep all together and work so hard everyday, and they don't have social security like we do, I say I don't mind being here. Helping these people is much more important to me. The sacrifice I make is nothing compared to the kids here that have little food and eat rice rice rice and noodles. They don't have free school lunch like the states. The kids only hope is education and they don't have the scholarship programs for college like we do. So they study so hard even on Saturday even through hunger and work part time so they can go to college.

Too many Americans live spoiled where they think everyone is entitled to free college, at least 2bathrooms and a wide screen color TV, and sports car. I tell you the countries soldiers here have it worse too. They make 9$ a month and are drafted. They sleep on floor mats and can even be beaten by there senior.

I work along side these soldiers every-day and I admire them. Sometimes the country men call GIs toy soldiers. This label has been given largely because of the GIs own laziness and attitude. At one time the GI was one of the most respected people here but not now. Why is that because of examples like this girls SA.

I have no problem if you post this response. AND I challenge anyone to figure out what country I am in? Because you probably wouldn't think what I say is true if you knew the country. Why is that?? Because the soldiers here don't complain as much!

I also challenge any one to guess my MOS.

Posted: 9 May 00
"A Normal Fort Drum Day"

0650- PT formation outside. All but three months of the year with many layers of clothing to block the freezing rain, cold, wind or snow that belts northern New York from the never predictable lake effect.

MON- 4 MILE RUN, no matter how cold, wet or slushy. 20 below zero indoor running may be contemplated. May being the key word. Small groups run according to their abilities (speed). The fast stay fast, and the slow run slow together.

TUES- Push up and sit up improvement. Push ups are emphasized, suggestions not open for debate.

WED- 4, 6, 8 or 12 mile ruck march. Minimum 35 lb requirement, regardless of soldier size. All climates approved. All battle rattle worn.

THURS- Circuit training. Outdated/ unauthorized exercises overridden here at drum.

FRI- 4 mile run. One big group. The slow are humiliated, the fast get angry. What morale.

0800- Stretching begins.

0805- Battle drill practice. Recite/ reanacting begins.

0820-0900- Personal hygeine, breakfast and barracks maintenace.

0920-Report to the Motor Pool or hallway area for further "go-fer" directions from a higher rank. What training schedule?

1200-1300- Lunch

1300-1655- More "go-fer" details and BS.

1700- Formation

1720-Release time, that is if we're not in the field, still detailed or in a class, or just have an anal team with a lack of good communicational skills.

Oh, yes! By the way this is not an infantry or artillery type unit. I'm talking about MI. I happen to be a Spanish linguist here in northern New York. Have I once done my job since I graduated from the three schools I had to attend 3 years ago? Absolutely not. Did I have higher aspirations? Did they say I was guaranteed this job? Was there fine print? Definitely yes!

FOR ALL OF YOU THAT ARE CONSIDERING THE ARMY, READ FINE PRINT, DON'T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOUR TOLD, AND IF THE ABOVE DAILY ROUTINE IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM DOES NOT APPEAL TO YOU, DON'T JOIN. GALS, THERE IS NO SPECIAL TREATMENT. THE ONLY THING SPECIAL YOU'LL BE IS IN THE BARRACKS, BECAUSE THERE ARE VERY VERY VERY FEW OF US AT TACTICAL UNITS LIKE FORT DRUM.

Posted: 15 Mar 99
"Whew! What a Day" (from an Army MP)

Up at 0430 and take a nice long shower. At least until 0445. Get dressed. Get my daughter up at 0515 and make breakfast. Leave for work at 0600. Arrive at 0620. Physical training starts at 0630 until 0730. This would either be a 5 to 7 mile run or muscle failure with push ups and sit ups. Drive home, take a shower and be back to work by 0900. 0900 get dog and load up equipment for training. Go to training until 1130 or later. Lunch if training allows until 1300. Back to training until 1600. 1600 clean kennels and area around kennels. Complete training paperwork and clean personal equipment. 1700 or later head home. Upon arrival at home start laundry, make dinner and take yet another shower. Spend some time with my husband and daughter. Shine boots, iron uniform, iron daughters school clothes, put away laundry and asleep by 2300 - 2400.

This is a typical day unless I have an early morning mission which only means that the day would start anywhere from 0200 hours to 0300 hours. You'd be surprised how much you can get done in one day.

Posted: Sep 98

I'm an active duty SSgt in the USAF, married to another military member of the same rank and we have a 15 mo old son. Currently I work on the avionics systems on the C130 and he is a firefighter. I am lucky enough to work dayshift 0700-1600 and he works 24 on 24 off. My day starts at 0445 when I get up and take a shower and get myself as close to ready as possible before my son wakes up, which is usually at 0500. Once he's awake we go to the kitchen for breakfast and I entertain him and clean while he feasts. Then I wisk him back upstairs for a bath NLT 0550 and to get him dressed. Once I finish w/ him I put on my uniform while simultaneously entertaining him to ensure he d/n get into anything harmful. We rush to the Jeep and it's off the the Child Development Center on base. We arrive NLT 0645 so I'll have time to sign him in at the front desk, sign for his over the counter diaper prevention cream, walk him to his room, sign him in his room, and talk to the morning teacher about his night and the previous day at daycare. I then jump in the Jeep and make it to work NLT 0655 ready to "start" my day. On the mornings my husband is home he cuts my pre-duty day workload in half, accompanies us to the Child Development Center, and says goodbye to us until the next afternoon.

At work I repair any avionics discrepancies until I take my "lunch break" at 1100, step aerobics for an hour at the base gym. I return to work NLT 1230 and finish out my duty day. Then it's off the to CDC to pick up my little boy, talk to the head teacher of the room and to drive home. Once home I prepare a snack for him and "talk" to him about his day. Then we play for awhile and I feed him dinner and he's asleep by 0830.

I then iron a uniform for the next day and polish my boots and take care of housework before retiring for the night by 1000. If it's my husband's dayoff when I come home from work I cook while he takes care of our son. I also iron his uniform but he polishes my boots and helps w/ the housework. This schedule works very well even when one of us is deployed. If it's me that's gone, my in-laws, who live in the area, takes care of our son on the days my husband works. We love our son to death and also enjoy being in the military tremendously. We make this work by being a team. We d/n take each other for granted because we walk in each other's shoes and know first hand what's it like to be deployed and also the spouse left behind.

Signed. dedicated mother, wife and NCO

"K.P. DUTY"
Posted: June 19, 1998

When I was a little girl, back in the late forties and fifties, I used to watch a lot of war movies on T.V. and the majority of them were comedies...I remember the men sitting around peeling potatoes while on K.P. they were having so much fun doing this that years later (1970) when I joined the Women's Army Corp, I actually volunteered to peel potatoes...And boy did I enjoy myself...It was like a dream, I remember thinking to myself...I'm in the army now!

Posted: 4 Nov 97
"Fire in the Hole"

As an ammo troop assigned to Panama in the late 80s, I was experiencing my share of "real world" threat situations. One day, at "O-dark-30" we were busily assembling parachute flares (the type shot from aircraft to illuminate jungle area) and had quite a load of work ahead of us. These flares had two sections. One with a lanyard and timer which deployed the chute, and another timer which activated the white phosphorus flare. That's the one you DIDN'T want to activate. One of the men who was working this duty with us was an E-7 with the kind of attitude that is better in a junkyard. He was proud of himself, and it showed. Never mind that his usual duty had nothing to do with assembling flares. . . he just wanted to help out! After all, that stuff looks real good on the performance report paperwork . Well, old E-7 was packing & moving & packing & moving when all of a sudden. . . POP out popped a chute. OOOPS! That sets off the timer! We're all gonna die! AAARRRRRGH he tried so hard to exit the bay he made a dent in the concrete wall he hit. We were absolutely rolling with laughter, knowing all it took to stop the timer was the ever complicated "reset" function. Gee, imagine that. His confidence that day was set in check, and we never had to worry about E-7 again assisting us on munitions buildup.

A Company Commander:

Posted: 19 Feb 97

As a Company Commander in the Army, I face problems every day that range from spouse and child abuse to shoplifting to debt problems to overweight/out of shape soldiers, to harassment and fraternization. Every day is a new problem and a new challenge. Every once in awhile, though, a soldier will pass a PT test that I have spent countless hours running with, or get promoted after waiting so long we thought it would never happen. I promoted two soldiers to E-2 last week, and never saw so much potential and pride on a soldier's face. There are some great young soldiers coming up, and I am glad to have a chance to assist in shaping them.

Just Another Day at the Firing Range:

From Desert Storm Training

Jan 24, 1991

Today is another biggie day. Had to go to the firing range. We all got mustered in and had to form outside on the sidewalk and march to the busses that were waiting for us. We all loaded into the busses and headed off to the firing range. When we finally got there, we all unloaded from the bus and were told to go inside this tent that was set up. That was where we would hear the lecture on weapons.

The day was very cold. We all tried to fit into this tent and did somehow. Someone from the Army came in and started a fire in this small wood stove for us. We then had a lecture on the M-16 rifle.

Everybody was pushing together, not only to hear what was being said, but to get as close to the warmth of the fire too. I, being taller than most, ended up in the back, as usual, and I couldn't see the instructions. After he was done with his lecture, we all headed out of the tent and onto the firing range. Before I left, I confronted the instructor and I told him I couldn't see what he was teaching and would he go over it again. He said, "no problem," he'd talk me through it once I got into the fox hole. So I just waited in front of the fox hole for him to come and show me what to do, but all of a sudden another Army guy came up behind me and started yelling at me to get in the fox hole. I told him of my conversation with the instructor and he didn't want to hear it. He just kept yelling at me to "fire fire fire." He hung over me the whole time yelling at me. He made me so angry and frustrated. I really wanted to just turn around and tell him: "Hey, I don't carry one of these things around with me when I do the housework." I finally finished firing the weapon and all the rounds. I think I did this with both my eyes closed, so needless to say, I never hit the target.

Went back on the bus to go to chow then back to the bus and back to the firing range for more classes and to shoot the 45. At least I had done that in bootcamp so hopefully this would go better than the M-16.

When we got to the firing range, we heard that CNN had been around talking to people and we had been warned not to speak about anything in particular to them if we were asked.

Well, who shows up at the firing range when it was our turn, but CNN. They were filming people firing the 45s. When it was my turn to fire it, the same instructor, who had promised me he would help me out in the morning, came over to help me and so did CNN. Cameras were rolling as the instructor was talking me through the steps. I didn't pay any mind to the cameras, just to what I was doing. The whole time I as shooting, so were the cameras. Then I had to go to the target and circle all of the holes that were mine. The instructor was sooo nice. He kept saying, these are yours, circle them. (I never hit the target once, but the instructor sure didn't want the cameraman to know this!) The CNN cameras were filming this too, then when I was walking back from the target, they asked my instructor if they could asked me a few questions and he said yes.

They wanted to know what it felt like to be going off to war and what did I think about it and how did I like being in a Hospital unit. I told them I wasn't sure how I felt about going off to a war, and I worked in payroll. All cameras were immediately shut off and they walked off. I guess they were wanting information on how the corpsmen felt having to fire weapons because they are covered under the Geneva Convention and they don't have to fire weapons. Anyway, what a day! My instructor gave me a nickname, he called me Elvira.

Interesting note: I had a chance to talk to my instructor about what his role was in training the soldiers of Kuwait and how that went. He was telling me a story about how he was one of the ones who got to train these Kuwaiti solders. He found them to very quick learners. But then again, I guess they had to be, considering they only had one week to learn everything.

A Day In the Life of a Military Woman During a War

Fri 2-22-91

...5 am..Scud siren went off at the Norwegian camp. All the noise from that siren and not a peep from our siren. Our alarm didn't go off. You could hear the scud going overhead, but still no alarms for us. Finally, ours went off--no alarm though--just them telling us that the scud was not for us and for us not to worry.

...7 am...listening to the radio and they said the scud hit a barracks in Daharan. It killed a lot of Americans who were staying in the barracks there waiting for assignments. How awful! That was about all they knew at the time about the deaths of the Americans. It really made people aware of the fact that this place we were at was not a dream and that bad things can happen.

News that the ground war might soon start, meant no liberty tomorrow for anyone. We were supposed to go with some of the Seabees and had really been planning this and what a good time we were going to have. This would have been a fun day, but the news we heard first thing this morning changed all that. We went to Manpower to see if we could just go to 2 1/2 to call our families and let them know we were ok and then come right back. They did allow that, so we went for just an hour or so, then came right back. Starting to get a bit scary. There was virtually no one at 2 1/2 today.

Really made you think that this might be the last hurrah for quite some time. I called my husband from there and told him I wasn't sure WHEN I would get another chance to call. I told him that I really hated the alarm clocks that went off here--meaning the air raid alarms. I was telling him about the scud siren that went off this morning.

I had duty today and had spent most of the night in the office. When I was getting ready to leave the office to go back to the tent for the night, I went outside and got as far as the port-a-potty when the guys from PWD yelled across to me to put on my gas mask. I walked back to PSD and told them to put on their masks too. Then a voice came over the loud speaker for everyone to put on their gas masks as the air was filled with an ammonia gas. Nobody knew what had happened which tended to make everyone nervous. We all sat in the office all laughing at ourselves at how beautiful we all looked in our masks. We were also told to stay where we were for an hour. Finally, after an hour, we were allowed to remove our masks and leave for our tents.

I ended staying in the office until 1230 AM with my Chief. We kept hearing a noise outside the office and went out to see what was going on. There was a huge light on and all these people milling about under this light with all these boxes with something in them they were going through. We watched in wonder and finally asked one of the people what they were doing. They said when the first scud attack siren went off that a lot of people had gotten their mop gear out of the bags and that they were defective. So they were checking all the mop gear and throwing away all the bad ones. Gee now, isn't that a reassuring sight. Mop gear that had rotted over the years while being stored and that is the same gear they issued us to save our lives. How about that! What a big surprise!

Well, it's been quite a day and I must retire back to my tent to catch a few Z's before the early morning comes and dawns a new day.

The IG Is Coming

I stood in the austere hallway of a tired building, along with five other slick-sleeve airman. "Listen up airmen," the First Sergeant bellowed. "We must make this building ready for the IG next week." Well, I didn't know much about the IG, but it sure made people act strange. Today was my initiation into "The Airmen's IG Prepatory Club," compliments of one ambitious First Sergeant. "Ladies," he snapped, (I looked around: yup, only women on this detail). "Your job today is to sweep, mop and buff this floor. And remove all the excess paint above the edge of the baseboard." We looked around and wondered "why?" I didn't come into the Air Force for this. The First Sergeant asked us to repeat our task; gave us the necessary supplies; told us we must finish the job before we leave; and then left us on our own. The results were amazing. The natural leader emerged. Using a team approach, we chose the best person for each job. Someone gave the pep talk about how this is for the good of the organization. A plan was put into action and so were we. We finished by lunchtime. The First Sergeant was shocked, "I expected this detail to last all day." We beamed from ear to ear; filthy, sweaty, and tired. "One thing I forgot to tell you," he said, smiling, "you're free to go home when you finish." We cheered. The First Sergeant thanked us for a job well done and we left beaming with pride; delighted in our efforts; and ready for the IG team.

The Lieutenant and the Chief

As a brand new second lieutenant, the first job I had was the Director of Personnel and Admin Services. As the squadron section commander, I had a (male) first sergeant who reported to me (an E-7) and as the Director of Admin Services, I had the chief of admin reporting to me (an E-9) (also a male). Well, the first sergeant was used to "breaking in" new lieutenants, so no problem there. But the Chief Master Sergeant, the highest enlisted grade achievable, well now that was a different story. The Chief approached me and said he wanted to talk about the chain of command issue. He said, it was nothing personal, but quite honestly, he didn't want to work for a second lieutenant. At no time did I perceive this as a gender issue; but strictly an issue of rank. He said he was going to approach the "colonel" to request a change of supervisor. Being a forthright and unduplicitous man, he wanted me to have the benefit of hearing this news directly from him. Of course, this change meant removing one functional area under my authority. I told him I respected his desire to work for the colonel instead of a lieutenant. However, by virtue of my position, this is the reporting chain. Unless I prove myself incapable of executing my duties, then I am rightfully the direct reporting official for these two functional areas. I told him I intend to make my position clear to the colonel. Incidentally, this organizational structure was mandated by headquarters; therefore, it was not an internal structure designed by the unit. Later that day, I approached the colonel after the Chief had had his opportunity. I restated why I felt there should be no change in the reporting officials. At the end of the duty day, the colonel called me into his office. He told me there would be no change to the reporting chain and the Chief would continue as the incumbent chief of admin. The Chief and I met again to discuss the colonel's decision and we walked away with an agreement that we would support each other and work as a team. We did just that. I learned much from this Chief Master Sergeant and am grateful for his wisdom, guidance and patience in nurturing the career of a gung-ho second lieutenant.