Female Marines Put Training to the Test

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A Step Ahead of the Enemy

Intelligence gathering is vital to predicting enemy capabilities and intentions. To the Marines on the front lines searching for insurgents, intelligence information guides where they go and who they question. It can forewarn them of danger and suggest safe egress from an area of heavy resistance.

As a senior tactical analyst with the 2d Radio Bn attached to First Marine Division, Sgt Jennifer M. Anderson is tasked with performing short-term analysis on intelligence and putting it in the form of a report. The reports, Anderson said, contain information to help Marines catch insurgents and prevent them from succeeding in carrying out insurgent operations. Her unit works diligently to find new ways to exploit the enemy every day. "My only goal," Anderson said, "is to make sure my Marines make it home safe."

Despite the 12-hour days, the work is appealing to Anderson, daughter of a Marine father whose pride in his service made her dream of being in the military one day. Every time she deploys, Anderson said her "morale shoots through the roof." Training at MCB, Camp Lejeune, N.C., doesn't provide the live missions she performs in Ramadi, Iraq. "It's nice to actually do your job for real and to know you are making a difference."

Linguist: Bridge to Locals

Making a difference was also a driving force behind SSgt Hala G. Monsour's contribution to the mission in Iraq. SSgt Monsour spent the first 13 years of her life in Sierra Leone, Africa, until her family moved to California. The daughter of Lebanese parents, Monsour can read, write and speak Arabic, an asset that enabled her to serve as a linguist in Al Taqaddum with the First Force Service Support Group, I MEF.

Monsour primarily accompanied intelligence personnel through any interactions on or off base that required translation. She often was present to translate at interrogations to determine whether detainees would become prisoners of war. The challenge of her job was to accurately translate the exact words without interpretation, to make it as if the interrogator and detainee were talking directly to each other.

Given the Middle Eastern cultural differences regarding gender, her job was sometimes made more complicated when Iraqi men hesitated to speak to a woman. Ultimately, however, their fate depended on her ability to translate for them.

In addition to supporting intelligence personnel, Monsour also provided critical communication between a Navy surgical trauma team and the Iraqi casualties they were treating. Her language skills also enabled her to accompany the 3d Bn, 24th Marine Regiment on humanitarian missions to villages where she witnessed firsthand the extreme poverty of the local population. Through Monsour and other trained linguists, Marines could assess Iraqi needs and provide water, clothes and school supplies.

Calm, Cool and Collected
On the "Hooks"

The technical side of communication is the goal of LCpl Kristen A. Sanford, serving with the MWSS-373 Communications Platoon. Initially a field wireman, MOS 0612, tasked with setting up phone lines and switchboards, LCpl Sanford cross-trained through on-the-job training into a secondary MOS of radio operator, 0621.

As a radio operator, Sanford provides communication support to military police when they go "outside the wire" to respond to IED missions. She also is responsible for setting up retransmission sites so information can be sent between the command and the IED teams.

"Always staying calm, cool and collected is the motto of a true radio operator. While on the hook [radio], having all those qualities really counts if anything were to go wrong," she explained.

Sanford, who grew up in Moreno Valley, Calif., joined the Marine Corps for many reasons. "The idea of being a female Marine with all that pride is something I wanted�something to be proud of. I wanted adventure; I wanted to see new things, travel, and I wanted to blow stuff up. So far I have traveled all over the U.S. and to three different countries. I have had the opportunity to fire large weapons and to even blow stuff up. So, tell me where any other job allows you that much adventure."

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

On a day-in and day-out basis, all action in Iraq depends on the work done by Motor Transport Marines. Moving food, water, ammunition and supplies around the clock is the job of the 6th General Support Motor Transport Company, a Reserve unit from Providence, R.I. As chief dispatcher for Truck Co, Headquarters Bn, 1stMarDiv, Cpl Elizabeth C. Thompson is responsible for tracking and logging the use of all military vehicles on Camp Blue Diamond, the 1stMarDiv base camp in Ar Ramadi. As a motor transport operator, she also occasionally is able to drive off base with the convoy.

Averaging 45 vehicles per day, Cpl Thompson matches up the right vehicles with the right loads with the right destination at the right time. She is responsible for the drivers' trip tickets, which document mileage, weight of cargo, number of passengers, amount of fuel, or any mechanical difficulties. Additionally, she keeps track of how many miles each Marine in Truck Co drives. The vast majority of the trucks return from their journey on the same day, so the documentation process is repeated as they roll back on base.

Team Marines

Female Marines are performing work that is integral to the success of Marine forces in current warfare. In an environment where units are spread out geographically and hostile action is likely to occur not only on a linear battlefield primarily among infantry, artillery and armored units as in the past, but also in service support areas, women are gaining experiences that heretofore they were unlikely to encounter.

Without exception these Marines take pride in their jobs. They earn the respect of their fellow Marines through hard work and a can-do attitude. Most agree with LCpl Warner that women are contributing to the Marine Corps mission like never before. She said, "We consider ourselves Marines, and everything we contribute is as a team."

LCpl Sanford enthusiastically stated, "I love being a Marine, and at this point in my life it's my greatest accomplishment. I'm doing something not all women can do or even choose to do. A female Marine, being the fewest of the few and proudest [of] the proud, allows me to hold my head high."

� 2005 Leatherneck Magazine. All rights reserved.