The Army prides itself on planning. War plans most likely exist to cover every potential conflict that may arise. Most countries probably do this, but it’s the Americans that do it the best. President Harry Truman promised the world that America will be the world’s response force. Since World War II, the United States has taken part in more than war when its forces deploy. Servicemembers have taken part in operations varying from Vietnam to Operation Unified Response. The Global War on Terrorism, or whatever it’s called today, has degraded the international community’s imagine of the American military and what it’s capabilities are.
Wartime deployments are never easy. There’s the train up; months getting your unit and your mind prepared for whatever lies ahead. It’s easy to find a routine when time allows; but having just signed into a new unit, I found routines were hard to come by. A unit’s train up is crucial to mission success. Timelines are also important for soldiers because it’s important to know when you’re leaving and when you hope to come back. The Department of Global Response Force is a dubious assignment that rotates between Brigade Combat Teams in the 82nd Airborne Division. Uncertainty looms over the personnel. At any given time, this unit can be called upon to perform any mission throughout the world with as little as 18 hours of notification. For a soldier in his or her late 20s and limited personal obligations, this is as exciting as it is nerve racking.
January 12, an earthquake rocked an impoverished country. The U.S. government was called upon to assist with the Humanitarian Relief efforts. As a member of the Global Response Force, my unit was tasked to deploy to Haiti for period of time that was not clearly specified. The idea was to go in with low expectations, complete the mission, get home, and back to the life I was establishing in North Carolina. Then she happened.
In the wake of the earthquake, the Government of Haiti and the US military were left scrambling to provide for the people of this country. Military commitments across the global forced aircraft to be consolidated from across the nation to support the bringing of troops and equipment to Port-au-Prince. Once the soldiers were here with the necessary amount of equipment to conduct the mission, a need arose for more vehicles than the military could support sending. The military had contracted out numerous vehicles from a car rental agency. These vehicles transported servicemembers with equipment and officials to various points around the city.
That sunny morning in late January was one for the ages. She drove into our Logistical Support Area with her crew and was seemed like truck loads of equipment. I had just woken up, groggy and still wiping the sleepies away from my eyes. I lit my morning cigarette as was my routine. As I looked up, I saw something that stood out. The former noncommissioned officer in me noticed something truly out of place; a headband around a female in uniform. That was the beginning. I was hooked as I watched what had to be an angel move the gear from the truck bed to the dropped tailgate as her fellow crewmembers moved the pelican cases to the ground. Really before I knew what I was doing, I quickly moved over to assist with the unloading. I wanted two things; to hear her voice, and to see if she had a wedding band or some semblance of a wedding band tan. I, a normally very confident soldier, was rendered completely speechless, not really grasping what the results of my actions would be.
After we unloaded the cases, she said, “Thanks,” and left me with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I went about my day. My mind constantly wandered back to this woman, “Who was she? What did she do? What was her name? Where does she work?” As fate would have it, she worked in the same section I did, only a different department.
