Anonymous
12-31-1969, 07:00 PM
I am a Desert Storm vet. No I didn't volunteer to go there
No one usually volunteers. I want to explain that women
do the jobs they have to do. I joined the USAF in 1973
when women were just really starting to join the military.
I joined to protect my country and the freedoms we have.
In 1976, I wanted to change jobs and become a Loadmaster.
Thought it would be great. But guess what..it wasn't open
for women. Combat position. Well, I feel I could have done
an excellent job. So I looked at other possibilities and
decided on Disaster Preparedness. Here you go out on major
accident response, teach Chemical Warfare, and plan. Well,
Richard talked about seeing dead bodies, I've seen dead bodies
from pilots who couldn't eject. Any dead body is a horrible
sight and yes, to some degree women and children is usually
a sight not to many of us want to see.
During Desert Storm, I was located in Bahrain....Maybe not
on the front line, but we still had SCUD Missile Attacks. I
trained all the people there on how to wear their protective
equipment, monitored for Chemical and Biological agents, and
protected our area. I was in charge of night shift in the
Survival Recovery Center. Any time there was an attack
we sounded the alarm and monitored afterwards. You have
to be a team player. I filled sand bags, put up tents, attended
meetings with the host nation (where women aren't looked
upon to favorably anyway) and had some great rapport. We had
all services at our base and I worked with each one of them
to ensure we had a plan for survival. There were some
women who did not want to be there, in fact I had one
working for me. At times I wish I hadn't taken her and I
had a choice because of her training status. But I felt
she would learn from the experience and she did. My husband
at the time was very jealous that I went and he couldn't.
So I really had no support from him during my 8 month tour
of the Gulf. Women and men showered and went to the bathroom
in the same latrine when we first arrived on site. We are
all adults and there were no problems. When we arrived
in Bahrain there were 44 women to one dormitory room. We
had to hot bunk and we got used to it. Then another room
came open and the top 10 NCO's moved to that room. In November
we moved into tents and we put them up. We filled the
sand bags to go around the outer edges, and we made it look
like a living area just like the guys. Most of the guys
we worked with, understood that we were there to do a job
and that we could do it just as well as they could.
I feel I learned from this experience and I would do it
all over if I was tapped to go. I still have 7 years on
Inactive Retired status to go. Yes, no one wants to go to
war, but if a women can do the job and she wants to go, don't
hinder her. Work as a team and a lot can be accomplished.
<hr size=7 width=75%>
jharw7774@aol.com
No one usually volunteers. I want to explain that women
do the jobs they have to do. I joined the USAF in 1973
when women were just really starting to join the military.
I joined to protect my country and the freedoms we have.
In 1976, I wanted to change jobs and become a Loadmaster.
Thought it would be great. But guess what..it wasn't open
for women. Combat position. Well, I feel I could have done
an excellent job. So I looked at other possibilities and
decided on Disaster Preparedness. Here you go out on major
accident response, teach Chemical Warfare, and plan. Well,
Richard talked about seeing dead bodies, I've seen dead bodies
from pilots who couldn't eject. Any dead body is a horrible
sight and yes, to some degree women and children is usually
a sight not to many of us want to see.
During Desert Storm, I was located in Bahrain....Maybe not
on the front line, but we still had SCUD Missile Attacks. I
trained all the people there on how to wear their protective
equipment, monitored for Chemical and Biological agents, and
protected our area. I was in charge of night shift in the
Survival Recovery Center. Any time there was an attack
we sounded the alarm and monitored afterwards. You have
to be a team player. I filled sand bags, put up tents, attended
meetings with the host nation (where women aren't looked
upon to favorably anyway) and had some great rapport. We had
all services at our base and I worked with each one of them
to ensure we had a plan for survival. There were some
women who did not want to be there, in fact I had one
working for me. At times I wish I hadn't taken her and I
had a choice because of her training status. But I felt
she would learn from the experience and she did. My husband
at the time was very jealous that I went and he couldn't.
So I really had no support from him during my 8 month tour
of the Gulf. Women and men showered and went to the bathroom
in the same latrine when we first arrived on site. We are
all adults and there were no problems. When we arrived
in Bahrain there were 44 women to one dormitory room. We
had to hot bunk and we got used to it. Then another room
came open and the top 10 NCO's moved to that room. In November
we moved into tents and we put them up. We filled the
sand bags to go around the outer edges, and we made it look
like a living area just like the guys. Most of the guys
we worked with, understood that we were there to do a job
and that we could do it just as well as they could.
I feel I learned from this experience and I would do it
all over if I was tapped to go. I still have 7 years on
Inactive Retired status to go. Yes, no one wants to go to
war, but if a women can do the job and she wants to go, don't
hinder her. Work as a team and a lot can be accomplished.
<hr size=7 width=75%>
jharw7774@aol.com