Exclusive Broowaha Interviews »
Interview With
by Josh Marks (writer),
During her deployment in
The 33-year-old marketing manager and mother-to-be
recently turned her war writings into a book. “In the Company of Soldiers” is
the story of her time in
Meichelbock took the time for an
exclusive email Q&A with BrooWaha to discuss
being separated from her unit, a poignant moment while frisking an Iraqi woman
and the important role females play in the military.
BrooWaha: When were you in
Melia: My position was a Civil Affairs
Specialist (civil assistance, rebuilding efforts,
elections, etc...). We meet with the local leaders to help rebuild and improve
economic conditions. My rank was Sergeant. I lived in several places -- two
forward operating bases in Tikrit, a safehouse and a patrol base in
B: You kept a journal during your service and turned it
into a book. Do you feel there is a lack of awareness amongst the majority of
the American public about what is going on in
M: Most definitely. Most of the journalists barely venture out of
B: Why did you decide to keep a
journal to document your experiences in
M: I looked for something to read before I deployed and there was nothing out
there from a female perspective. Plus I thought it would be an excellent way to
cope with the stress and something to pass down through generations. My
grandmother was a WAC (Women's Army Corps) and I would have loved to have read
some entries from World War II.
B: What was the most challenging part
of your deployment?
M: The constant movement and change. I had the worst luck. I was separated from
my unit from the start. I flew into
The scariest was probably living in the safe house and patrol
base in
Being the only female in most places had its pluses and minuses. You could get
whatever you needed for your team, but there was a lot of unwanted attention
such as staring and even sometimes notes slid under my door.
B: Do you feel like you made a
difference during your service in
M: Yes, the Iraqi women were wide eyed when they saw me. I think a woman
manning a machine gun made quite an impression on them. The
kids too. The little boys were always proposing. I think it opened their
eyes to possibilities. The biggest always broke my heart.
Overall I saw lots of improvement from OIF I (Operation Iraqi Freedom) to OIF
II. The local police and military were starting to take over more.
B: What moment stands out the most to
while you were in
M: There are so many. The moment that most stands out though was
probably in
It was fairly uncomfortable to frisk ultra conservative women in
120 degree heat and I usually just kept thanking them in Arabic. I was trying
to hold it together and just do my job. I would take the women in a private
area to frisk, so that they are not in front of the men.
This elderly lady I had to frisk took one look at me and was
visibly concerned, not for her, but for me. I had a strand of hair that had
fallen down my face and she pushed it out of my face in a very motherly way. I
almost broke down crying. I guess some things are universal and don't require words.
She knew how I was feeling from the moment that she laid eyes on me. She said a
little prayer over me before she left. I guess it worked because I am still
here.
B: Where are you now and what are you currently doing?
M: I work for the
B: How has it been adjusting to
civilian life again?
M: It took about three months to adjust. You hold a lot in, so
when I came back to the safety of home the flood gates opened. I cried a lot
and got annoyed when people acted petty.
B: You recently wrote an opinion piece
in USA Today that criticized an article called "Mental
toll of war hitting female servicemembers" because it didn't focus, as you say, on the
positive work female soldiers are doing in Iraq and the many female soldiers
who are coping succesfully. Do you have any examples
of this from your own experience?
M: Yeah, its extremely irritating that they spotlight
only the women that had trouble. For the record, both men and women experience
PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). One of the biggest issues for women in
the military is proving their value. Articles like this set us back.
CNN 360 just posted a similar story and people were responding
"this is why women don't belong in the service." I rode out with the
Infantry and even did foot patrols through town. We lost a soldier and had
several injured. It's tough, but that is war and to be expected.
We're trained to shoot at human targets and avoid mock
explosions. Anyone thinking the military is any different shouldn't serve. That
goes for men and women. I just don't like the singling out of women. If they
want to talk about PTSD they should talk about "soldiers" not women.
Their selective stories paint us in a "can't handle it" light, when
handling it has nothing to do with gender, both men and women can have issues
or even be heroic. What was even worse was the women had never even left the
base. She was stressed from hearing bombs in the distance.
B: Are women treated equally in the
military or is there a different set of standards?
M: I saw it in other units, but not so much with mine. As with any job,
leadership is top down. In most places I was treated as an equal, even sharing room
and toilet facilities in extreme cases like the safe house. That was hard,
sharing a bathroom!
Occasionally there were base issues I would run into. At one
base in particular they stuck all the female soldiers in one giant room,
regardless of rank and let lower enlisted males have their own shared rooms.
That irritated me the most. They gave lower ranking soldiers better quarters
because they felt it was easier to lump all us females together. But my
leadership eventually got me out. I was lucky in that my superiors supported me
as a soldier, not a woman.
B: What is the overall message your want to get out about females serving in
M: That we kick butt just as much as the guys! Ha, ha. Actually in
I'd like to see some positive stories about what we do to put us
on par with the men. It seems like the men are heroes and the women are just
felt sorry for. It makes me sick to my stomach that someone would rather feel
sorry for me than thank me and tell me I did a good job.
B: What advice do you have for young
women who might be considering a career in the military and the very real
possibility of getting deployed to
M: Prepare yourself mentally and physically as best you can. Read and learn as
much as you can before you deploy. Don't be so quick to judge, you'll learn for
yourself rather fast who you can trust and who you can't. Don't put yourself in
bad situations. I heard about some young women getting taken advantage of
skipping off to drink with the guys, always take another female or trusted male
with you anywhere you go with strangers.
B: Thank you for your time and for
your service and best of luck promoting your book.