Baggy camo and blow dryers: After 2 months, local Guard get a break
FORT SILL, Okla. -- Flat irons, blow dryers, makeup and sound systems blaring country music were hauled into the women’s latrine last week.
Baggy camouflaged uniforms and heavy boots were replaced by colorful tops and fitted jeans.
Jewelry found homes on once barren ears, and cheeks were rouged and lips painted glossy pink.
The sound of feet running from room to bathroom was reminiscent of children anticipating Christmas morning as the soldiers got ready for a four-day vacation.
After nearly two months of living in the barracks and training for their deployment, the soldiers from Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., nearly ran to the bus that would take them away from Fort Sill for some rest and relaxation.
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| Sgt. Merissa Merlin applies lip-gloss as Specialists Stephanie Richards and Theresa Welsh from Pennsylvania also prepare for their vacation. (Photo by Cali Bagby) |
Sgt. Merissa Merlin, a flight medic from Portland, Ore., applied mascara in the women’s latrine as she prepared for her trip to Austin, Texas, where she planned to soak up some sun, attend a Blue October concert and visit the spa for a massage. Her hotel dropped 50 percent off the bill because Merlin and her boyfriend, Sgt. Chris Skidmore, are military.
It is a rare event for Merlin to pick up a rental car and drive away from Fort Sill. Soldiers like Merlin have not been allowed to get off post to savor steak dinners in the nearby town of Lawton, Okla. At Fort Sill, civilian pants, t-shirts and sandals are not allowed, and cold beers cannot be consumed on balmy spring nights.
Above the woman’s floor, male soldiers in jeans and t-shirt hurried downstairs and filed in line to sign out for their vacation.
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| Jeff Blankenship carries his bag to the bus, which will take him to Lawton Airport. (Photo by Cali Bagby) |
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jeff Blankenship headed to Idaho for a visit with his fiancé. Blankenship just got back from his last deployment on December 28, 2008.
Blankenship has served 23 years with the California National Guard and served ten years with the Inactive Ready Reserve.
In the summer of 2007, Blankenship was considering retirement, but he was advised to hold on for a few more months because his retirement points would be more valuable.
“The next thing I knew I got my order to go to Iraq,” said Blankenship, who is not bitter with his situation. “I’m the one who joined the Guard; they sent me to flight school.”
After that deployment, Blankenship was notified that that Oregon’s Medevac unit was short soldiers, so he signed on to make another tour.
For now Blankenship looks forward to seeing his fiancé, Diane Cling, for the weekend and a promotion to CW4 before he retires in eight years. “It does make you want to be stronger, be a better person,” Cling said when thinking about Blankenship’s sacrifices. She just tries to enjoys the time she has with her fiancé.
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| CW2 Scott Anderson shows off his slimmer form. (Photo by Cali Bagby) |
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Scott Anderson couldn’t wait to fly to Canby, Ore., for his vacation and show his wife his new figure. Anderson and three other men in the company have lost over 20 pounds since they arrived at Fort Sill.
In January, the line to the cafeteria would wrap around the building at lunchtime, but now the wind whips around the doorways. Anderson has spent the last two months avoiding the cafeteria and working out every day.
“The gym is the one thing I have to look forward to,” said Anderson. “It helps eliminate the stress of being away from my family and from living with six dudes.”
Anderson, like other soldiers in the brigade, live in cramped rooms with bunk beds for four to six men.
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Cali Bagby is embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., for KVAL.com. She works as a freelance print and photojournalist in Eugene, Ore. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly. Bagby graduated from the School of Journalism and Communications at the University of Oregon.
