Seraphim Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 In the early 1990’s I became a 5th generation soldier and joined my younger brother and my fiancé ( now husband) in the military. It was a bad time to join the military it was really reviled in the popular cultural of that decade . Slurs would be shouted against you ,you could be spit on ....it was .... but I was determined to follow a family tradition . And I would be the first female family member in the military and still to this day the only female member of my family to have been in the military. While I was at home yesterday to visit my mom I had time to reminisce briefly with my brother . He mentioned, those were “ hard times, not easy for sure “. It is something my sibling and I can have comradery on that nobody else understands really. This will just be a disjointed collection of military memories. And it kind of gives insight into a bit of my personality as military training never leaves you. I remember attending my husband’s medal ceremony recently and they called the room to attention and I immediately shot to attention in my seat automatically. I left the military 16 years ago . Link to comment
Seraphim Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 We had been on exercise for what seemed forever , in reality it was probably 8 weeks. I hadn’t seen my brother in a month because the two platoons are gone separate ways . Being a section commander for the first time was really wearing a bit thin. I swear they had given me every substandard soldier in our unit to watch me fail. Sit rep was in 8 minutes and our hootch hotel was still up. I told my section to get that hootch hotel down and packed away I would be back with our new orders and prepare to move out as we were moving bivouac sites. I come back to find these people still milling around . I start screaming ,” form up on the road form up on the road!” I had slept 12 hours in 2 weeks and my patience was wearing very thin . I tore the hootch hotel right out of the ground and took my place in the platoon . I don’t remember getting to the new bivouac site but I am told I walked there . I guess I was sleeping as I walked . In the new site we set up our temporary home . I finally laid down to get some sleep . What seemed like minutes later I could hear my name being screamed out . S....... front and centre!! I automatically yelled out, Warrant! And I sat up. I could feel the tug of my C7’s sling on my wrist. I always slept with my weapon’s sling wound around my wrist a couple times and my hand on the barrel . I jammed my feet into my boots not bothering to tie them and went running through the forest. I reached my CSM. He said someone had come to visit me. Apparently, my brother and 2 others from the other platoon had come to visit. He was worried because he hadn’t seen me in so long. I was so beyond tired I couldn’t even recognize or process that it was my brother . Whereupon there was a lot of laughter and I was sent off to sleep. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 A memory from my basic: I had a migraine and had puked approximately 47 times and had to keep going doing what we were doing. We had a hard azz female officer who wasn’t letting anyone out of anything for any reason. I finally lay on the ground as I was so dehydrated I thought I would die. They called an ambulance out. They took me up top shot me full of Demerol and Gravol . They let me sleep two hours and sent me back out. We were throwing live grenades. The officer said no way was I throwing grenades as I was stoned out of my face. The MCpl said I had to or I would not pass my basic and he would take responsibility for me. I went on to throw grenades and run for 5 miles on a beach to finish out that day. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Although I am proud of my service I am not proud of how the military has treated women and people in general. It is MUCH MUCH “ softer “ now. But you could not enter the military and be soft . If you were you were weeded out . I was handed more abuse because I was a woman than I want to remember. Verbal , emotional, physical and yes , even sexual. One Recce patrol I was sent out with two 18 year old infantrymen. It was a night navigation that was actually 16 hours long. During which I was mocked and they threatened to steal all my gear and leave me smack in the middle of the woods with squat. I challenged back that they would charged and jailed for abandoning me. They ran through the woods at night hoping to lose me. I fell every few feet because of the pace. At the end of the Recce I was covered in massive bruises that covered my entire body. During that nav we fell over a cliff because they were being reckless. I crashed through a tree a branch catching my pants and tearing into my leg and buttock. I landed on one of the guys at the bottom, blood pouring down my leg. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 We were in a place called S.T. It was in the North during the winter. -55C. It was the coldest I have been in my life . We were snowmobiling on a frozen lake . Those I was with left me. They were laughing. They left me there not knowing in which direction to get back to camp . I could have fallen through light ice ,got lost in the woods and frozen to death ..anything . I was trying to get ahold of the sheer terror that gripped me . I was panicking . I had to get a grip on myself or I could’ve died . I followed my instincts and the occasional noise . I made it back to camp after about 30 minutes. They were all laughing. I screamed at them in sheer rage. It sobered their mood. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Lack of equipment and frostbite. Shortage of proper equipment is a perpetual problem for the Forces. I think it is why we are so ingeniously and wear so many hats. Winter exercises always a pain. Never enough arctic gear to go around especially if you are not “ average” in size and by average in size they mean ,man size . Never enough mukluks to go around when your mukluks are size 4 . So of course you have to go on a winter shoot with no mukluks. Let’s wear leather combat boots because Lord knows they will be warm . (. Insert sarcasm) After six hours of standing outside I can no longer feel my feet . I’m finally back in the warm and my feet thaw and it feels like my feet are on fire and I almost want to scream . “ Don’t be an effin sissy S, you’re fine. “ Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 Now , of course not all of it was bad. I loved serving with my brother. I loved serving with my husband. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted June 30, 2019 Author Share Posted June 30, 2019 In Arduis Fidelius Faithful in Adversity Link to comment
Seraphim Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 Probably one of the harder exercises for me was breaking a path through waist deep snow for 11 hours with my webbing and the radio as point man. It was so so so exhausting when I got back to base camp I couldn’t even lift my legs they were in such agony . I was so hungry I actually ate 10 hotdogs and then fell asleep curled up on the floor of the base camp. The next day I pulled the survival sled for 4 hours. Link to comment
Seraphim Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 On 4/27/2019 at 11:18 PM, Seraphim said: We were in a place called S.T. It was in the North during the winter. -55C. It was the coldest I have been in my life . We were snowmobiling on a frozen lake . Those I was with left me. They were laughing. They left me there not knowing in which direction to get back to camp . I could have fallen through light ice ,got lost in the woods and frozen to death ..anything . I was trying to get ahold of the sheer terror that gripped me . I was panicking . I had to get a grip on myself or I could’ve died . I followed my instincts and the occasional noise . I made it back to camp after about 30 minutes. They were all laughing. I screamed at them in sheer rage. It sobered their mood. I brought this up with my husband on a walk as he has been a peer mentor in the Forces in many capacities, right now he is a mental health peer mentor and before that he was part of an advisory board to prevent abuse of women in the military. I don’t know what precipitated this conversation or what brought this memory up but just all the injustices that I endured during the time in the Forces due to the fact I was female .... At the same time I am proud of my maternal lineage of trail blazing women. My mom was a force to be reckon with in the business world when women were still floundering. I am the only female member of my family to have joined the military. We are both tough tough women. I am sad in a way I don’t have a daughter to pass this on to. Link to comment
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