Published: August 08, 2008 11:38 am            

Transportation soldier takes on new challenge

By Rachael Tolliver

Editor/writer

Accessions Command



If she was dressed in flip-flops, tank top and skirt, hair down, strolling through the mall you might think she was any young adult starting college.

But Stephanie Patterson is not like any other young adult.

She is a private in the U.S. Army Reserve and is assigned to the 591st Transportation Company, based out of Chattanooga, Tenn., as a truck driver.

Currently the 591st is training at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

The unit is about to deploy to Iraq—where Patterson will be the only woman amid 22 brothers-in-arms. But she said she doesn’t like people focusing on the fact she is the only woman—to her she is just one of the guys, and just does her job.

And as if that isn’t enough of a challenge, the unit is not deploying as truck drivers. They will deploy as 88Ns, or Transportation Management Coordinators—something they must all train-up to do.

Additionally, she is the unit’s squad automatic weapons gunner. She racked up an expert score while training up with the unit in California.

By the time Patterson, who stands about five feet tall, said she finished her basic training in Fort Jackson, and her advanced individual training as a truck driver, it was February when she returned to her unit. And although she was due to start school in May 2008, the fact that her unit announced its upcoming deployment soon after her return meant that her education in neo-natal nursing was on hold until further notice.

Patterson, who lives 30 miles south of Chattanooga in Dalton Ga., said she joined the Army Reserve because she “wanted to do something.”

“I was just sitting around the house. My sister and I went to the mall and decided to see a recruiter there—we have a cousin who is in Iraq so my sister was thinking about joining and she’s not 18 yet,” Patterson recalled. “So we went to see a recruiter together—he won me over. He didn’t lie to me and he’s been spot-on (about life in the Army). Joining also helps with college.”

She said that joining the Army is a small departure from her normal interests because she is, “all girl” and the Army doesn’t have a female persona.

“I’m really girly. Pink is my favorite color, and I am into the whole flip-flop, skirt, get- my-nail-and-hair-done thing,” she said. “My toe nails are a hot sparkly pink, and I never wear my hair up. I thought about getting it cut—but I just can’t do it.

“And right about now I’d jump on the chance to soak in a hot bubble bath with candles—oh yeah!!!”

Instead of picking a medical military occupational specialty, something that would have fit a self-professed daddy’s girl, and fit her long term goal in nursing, she went in the other direction—she chose to drive a truck.

“I love to drive and wouldn’t want to do anything else,” she explained. “I am little (in stature and weight) and I always get picked on. In a big truck I get the feeling of ‘move over or I’ll crush you’ and I am in charge.”

But trucks aren’t the only big-rig for which Patterson, who is 20-years old, bear’s responsibility. She is her unit’s SAW gunner.

The SAW is general purpose machine gun, is usually equipped with a bipod, fires a rifle-caliber round, weighs 16 and a half pounds empty, and is used to provide suppressive fire for an infantry squad or section.

When the 591st conducted a road march from its barracks at Atterbury to the training forward operating base, where it would do a series of training exercises, Patterson carried her M249 SAW the whole way.

“It’s heavy, but I carried it in the two and a half mile road march—it was tough but I didn’t give up,” she said. “I don’t quit easily—I have to be totally incapacitated to quit. I (feel like) I have to prove myself to the guys. They treat me like a little sister and look out for me. I wouldn’t change it—I like my unit.”

She had never played with guns before joining the Army, and didn’t think she would like that aspect of the service very much. But she soon changed her mind.

“I liked the guns. I’d never shot anything before I went to basic and I was scared at first because I thought it would rip my arm off,” she explained. “But then I liked it—it was cool, especially the SAW which I qualified on when my unit got to California.”

And the command sergeant major for the 88th Regional Readiness Command recently awarded Patterson one of his coins for going above and beyond her duty, and setting a good example for the soldiers around her.

“But I don’t see what the big deal is,” she said. “I just do what I am supposed to and try my best to get it right.”

The soldiers in her unit said they feel like they have a little sister with them—a little sister they trust to watch their backs and take care of them as they would with her.

“She is a good soldier. She executes the mission well, and jumps on anything you give her to do,” said Sgt. Matthew Fisher, a member of her unit. “She is dedicated, strong, and has some serious will power. If she’s given a challenge she overcomes it—like with the SAW.

“I feel good about having her watch my back and completely trust her. I’d like to see her promoted soon—but I’m sure that’s coming. She serves as a key player on our team, and without her it wouldn’t be the same.”

“She’s tough—she is our SAW gunner and made the two and a half mile road march carrying that SAW,” said her first sergeant, Staff Sgt. Timothy Dyer. “Other units had females ride out in vehicles—but she toughed it out and marched out with us, carrying the SAW the whole way. We’ve taken to her as a little sister and will do right by her.”

But Dyer said that having only one female in the unit does provide some difficulties.

“It’s a unique challenge—absolutely. The fact that there is one female creates challenges,” he explained. “There is special housing, and special movement considerations—for example instead of one battle buddy, she has to have two. None of us go anywhere alone, but with her it is with at least three people so there is no hint of impropriety.

“Getting information out is a challenge because you can’t walk into a tent and spill out info to a group of guys—we have to find her and give it to her too. But it’s working out well—you adapt and embrace the challenges. I wouldn’t trade her for anything and wish I could have five LIKE her.”

Being the only female can be a lonely experience, but Patterson said she isn’t short on support.

“All the guys are pretty approachable—they are easy to talk to,” she explained. “My best friend is my little sister and I miss her to death—we are always together. It doesn’t bother me that much (to not be around her though). Some nights I wonder ‘why did I join,’ and ‘what am I doing here?’ But over all it’s not bad. I have my own sleeping quarters while the guys all have to stay in an open bay barracks—so there are a few perks to this.”

Patterson is confident in her abilities as a truck driver and as the unit’s SAW gunner, and understands the importance of her role.

“I think (the soldiers in her unit) trust me. I’m not perfect, but I’d have their back just like I know all 22 of them would have mine,” she explained. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to them just like I know they won’t let anything happen to me.”

Patterson added that she and her little sister will be swapping lots of mail and photos and trying to keep each other caught up on the events of the other’s lives, which includes Patterson’s plan on how to add more women to her unit who can handle the work, hold their own, and do a good job.

“Anyone wondering about the military should make sure it’s for you if you do decide to join—look into it and research it,” she said. “It’s great—depending on the road you decide to take. I encouraged my little sister to join—but I told her not to go to basic until I get back. She can be in my unit and I won’t be the only female.”

        

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