Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

In 1992, Christine Mason was a twenty two year old woman who had joined a hospital unit of the US Army Reserve. She had been slotted as a medical technologist. Christine had been going to college, was living alone and had a son. She was doing pretty well for herself but wanted to see another side of life, and/or see the world.

At 22 yrs of age, she had to get through basic training (IET) and advanced training (AIT). Her assigned training base for IET was Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Her father was the first African-American Command Sergeant Major of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He had also been "on the trail" (a Drill Sergeant) at Fort Leonard Wood. Surely, this soldier, a fast-tracker, had a bright future in the Army. He still had contacts at Fort Leonard Wood and the contacts seemed to know she was going to be a soldier-in-training at the base.

Christine already knew the things that would be required of new soldiers. She knew how to "spit shine" boots, how to display your uniforms, how to maintain a professional military bearing, what the schedule was, and how to be a leader. And at this particular time at Fort Leonard Wood, Christine was part of the last company of new soldiers to go through non-integrated training. Her training group was made up of all females. They were still referred to as "rocks".

During IET, Christine knew that she was not from an impoverished background. Not all the new soldiers could say that. She volunteered for lots of SLJ details. No one else volunteered for anything, so she was picked. The training cadre didn't care much for that after a while. They created ways of toning her down. An issue with that was that the other soldiers in training thought she was getting special treatment. Best of all was that her attitude carried the day. She always had a smile and a "can do" way of getting things done.

Christine graduated from IET and was sent on to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Sam Houston, a base inside San Antonio, TX. The training was for her to be a lab tech. Christine was four to five years older than her peers and at age 22, can have a social life outside the military area. She had wheels and took advantage of her situation. Her roommates were young and a little resentful of what was going on. During all this, Christine never missed an assignment or a formation.

Christine graduated from AIT. She returned home and drilled with the 325th Hospital unit. She drilled one weekend a month and two weeks every year for annual training. During this time, the unit needed someone who could help move equipment and inventory from one place to another. Christine soon found another niche as a unit supply specialist. She had to report to Fort Lee, VA for more training.

She was assigned to the 64th Military Police (MP) Company of the 4th Infantry Division. These were combat MPs. The location was Fort Hood, TX. Her assignment as a supply specialist was not a good placement for her. Before the unit deployed to Bosnia, there was a required inventory of equipment and necessary supplies. Christine was doing all the things required of her. She was an active soldier, doing the physical training, making all formations, playing the game.

The Sergeant First Class, who supervised her, had health issues and filed the paperwork to be un-deployable. That meant the unit's property was going to be the responsibility of the new soldier, that being Christine.

Christine began going over the Property Book. It contains the required regulations but also is THE primary, by-the-numbers, accounting of what the unit has on hand. It lists vehicles and the tools that come with the vehicles, tentage and the requisite parts, right down to the canteens issued to the soldiers.

Christine found that when she counted the items on hand, plus the items signed for, the numbers didn't come out right. In checking further, there were lots of shortfalls. There was quite a bit of missing equipment. She knew that the Unit Commander was going to ask her to sign her name to the statement that all of the items were there. But the stuff wasn't there... should she "go along to get along" or go with the truth.

She consulted her father – again. He advised her to become very familiar with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) because this could get ugly. He also told her to sign nothing.

The Company Commander and First Sergeant met with Christine. She presented the information to them – that there was quite a bit of stuff missing. They told her to find the stuff. She got to be a problem in the Command. There was all this missing stuff and the Command was demanding that she – a newly arrived soldier – sign for inventory that was clearly not there.

Once again, Christine sought counsel from her father. He told her the truth. If she signed for what wasn't there, she assumed the financial liability for the missing items. If she stood up for herself, it would not be pretty, but she should do that. One additional avenue to seek help would be to write her Congress person and explain what was going on.

Christine had few options. She wrote her Congressman, who turned out to be Senator Robert Dole. His office immediately began correspondence with her. Although she wrote a detailed letter, they had more advice. On the other side, the Command was notified that they were under review because of a Congressional complaint. The Command was not pleased... and demonstrated as such in their comments to Christine. The Command leadership was livid. The problem was that they were telling a junior NCO to lie about what they had and didn't have.

Christine was pulled from her assignment and put on an extra duty roster. They were going to show her who was in control and who was not. She was banned from the library, and banned from any resource she could use to protect herself, including computer access. Every time an act was done toward her, she made a record of it. She was made a truck driver. Huh? She had no training. She drove.

As the unit got closer to deployment date, an advanced party was sent to Bosnia to get an actual look at the ground and situation then plan where each unit would be placed. Christine found a small building that was called the "dog pound". That would serve as the headquarters and the others would be placed as directed. (This is a serendipity moment: when the author was sent to Bosnia, his office was at the "dog pound".)

As a member of the advanced party, Christine was a part of the contingent that met with the Bosnian government. This included Slobodan Milosevic. She met the ruler of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the mean time, the previously mentioned Congressional review is going on...

In Bosnia, the Task Force Command decided that all the supplies would be in one location. The supply personnel were to pick up the Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MRE) and water. The food service personnel prepared one meal per day and the other meal requirements were met with MREs.

Christine was sent on to a helicopter unit. At one point, she was part of a convoy that was delivering supplies. One male Sergeant went a bit ballistic and stood up to say he was not having a female as his gunner. The LT in charge quelled the situation but he also directed the convoy in a wrong direction. The convoy had to stop. As the LT stepped out to assess the situation, an IED went off, blowing one of the LT's legs off.

After returning to their HQs, the soldiers were grateful to find "home sweet home". But then, a senior Sergeant who took it upon himself to display his manhood as the female soldiers showered. Christine reported the incident. Things went downhill from there. As she was an eye witness to what had happened, the matter went to court. Although the court ruled against the male soldier, Christine's reputation was damaged. The perception was that she was embroiled in controversy wherever she was sent.

As the case evolved and was sent to court, the Commander was relieved of Command, the First Sgt was relieved as well as the NCO who exposed himself. It turned out to be a big case of soldier misconduct on many levels. Christine returned to the "States" and Fort Hood after all this.

Things did not go well for this young lady. In the end, she opted to leave the US Army. Her son, although adopted by her parents, was having a difficult time. She resumed parenthood and had him brought to where she was. In time, she was evaluated for her health issues. In a span of two weeks, Christine was medically discharged. Her records were altered for the good of the government.

Christine took advantage of the GI Bill and went to school to become an over-the-road truck driver. She succeeded in this endeavor! After several months on the highways, she decided to try a different career path. She checked into more training so she could get into the electronics field. She liked being an electrician apprentice. She stayed with it and is still an electrician.

Christine is an electrician at the VAMC in Cheyenne. Christine gave the US Army her best. Most of the time, she was successful. She exposed those who were doing wrong, but she kept going.

You're a respectable soldier, Christine! You served your Country well! Thank you for your service!