Lauren+and+Leah

__**Research Paper**__

Melissa N. Regnell enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1983. She underwent training to help provide support for families with deployed members as a Rear Detachment Commander. Captain Melissa N. Regnell was able to serve her country through the Army by going through basic training and learning her MOS; this helped her achieve the medals she earned and perform the duties of a Rear Detachment Commander. The United States Army consists of the best-trained, most dedicated and most respected soldiers in the world. They protect America's freedoms at home and abroad. A soldier in the United States Army is the embodiment, or a visible idea, of physical strength, emotional strength, and the strength of purpose. A soldier is always prepared to serve their country whenever needed, trained to counter a threat anywhere (U.S. Army: Go Army!), and Capt. Regnell was certainly ready for the Bosnian Conflict. During the time that Capt. Regnell served was the time of the Bosnian Conflict, between the Serbs, Bosnian Serbs, and Croats. They were key players in this conflict. Now, Bosnia had always been the home of people that spoke out against religions, for many centuries. All the Bosnians had wanted was freedom and to be able to live with each other without being imprisoned (Vulliamy 29).The war began in Bosnia in 1992, and in Croatia around 1991, but even before the war, there was tension amongst the countries. Ethnic Serbs did not want the Yugoslavic people to be free, and the Bosnia-Herzegovinan republic took control of all the roads, pushing the global region on the verge of a civil war. For almost a day, the city that hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics was filled with 600,000 people that held gunfire and explosions (Gutman). Executions among ‘prisoners’ were high; Serb captors killed some of their Bosnian prisoners with pistols, but they mostly preferred slitting their throats. Afterwards, the bodies would be stripped naked, and thrown into the Sava River. The Serbs stated that they were “feeding the fish” (Gutman). To prepare herself for this conflict, Capt. Regnell went through basic training. Capt. Regnell went through a ten-week period of rigorous basic training. Basic Combat Training, or BCT, is what transforms a regular civilian into a soldier ready for battle. Capt. Regnell learned about the Seven Core Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. She also learned how to work together as part of a team and what it takes to succeed as a soldier in the United States Arm. (U.S. Army: Go Army). Capt. Regnell incorporated these values into her MOS training. Capt. Regnell’s MOS training was to learn the skills of being a Signal Battalion Officer, and a Rear Detachment Commander. The Signal Center was what conducted the specialized instruction for all Signal Regiment military and Department of the Army civilian personnel (Fort Gordon: Home of the US Signal Center of Excellence). For each of Capt. Regnell’s different Signal Battalions, she needed to learn how to command, operate, and maintain strategic long-haul, or long distance, Defense Communications Systems (DCS) and other non-DCS networks in support of the Commander-In-Chief (Global Security). For the 1111th Signal Battalion, CAPT. Regnell needed to learn to protect and maintain C4 (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Military intelligence) and other visual information systems in support of CINCs, and the National Military Command Center at Site R (Global Security). Using her MOS training, Capt. Regnell became a Rear Detachment Commander. The campaign in which CAPT. Regnell served in was being a Rear Detachment Commander, and training over 400 soldiers to go into war during the Bosnian Conflict. Capt. Regnell had been stationed at Site R was an Alternate National Military Command Center (ANMCC) at Raven Rock Mountain, Pennsylvania. It is six miles north of Camp David on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, and was used as a backup Pentagon and communications center should Washington D.C. ever be destroyed. It was designed to handle 3,000 people and include sophisticated computer and communications equipment, a reservoir, medical and dental facilities, dining hall, barber shop, and chapel (Brookings). Another mission/campaign Capt. Regnell was issued in was the National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS). This group leads the U.S. Government in cryptology and enables computer network operations in order to gain a decisive advantage for the nation and our allies under all circumstances. They were to collect, process, analyze, produce, and disseminate, or to spread signals, intelligence information, and data for foreign intelligence (National Security Agency). Capt. Regnell’s job as a Rear Detachment Commander (RDC) was mainly to provide support for families of those who have had someone deployed into the military (Fort Gordon: Rear Detachment Commander Handbook Sec1:2). The criteria that needed to be met in order to be a RDC is the following: Capt. Regnell received several medals for her acts of service in the Army. She received two ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal) for acts of extraordinary achievement and meritorious service. She achieved these medals without engaging in combat (Army Awards). Capt. Regnell also received a National Defense Service Medal Airborne; this medal is awarded for honorable active military service as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States (Air Force Personnel Center). The final medal that Capt. Regnell was awarded was the Distinguished Unit Service Medal, which was only worn while in the unit. The DSM is a military award of the U.S. Army that is presented to anyone who while serving in the military, has distinguished themselves with exceptional meritorious, or deserving praise, service to the government in a duty of great responsibility (Distinguished Unit Service Medal). Melissa N. Regnell did an exceptional job serving her country in the U.S. Army. She trained over 400 soldiers going into the Bosnian Conflict and reached the rank of Captain. She went through MOS training to become a RDC, and provided for deployed families. She served her country, and her military well, and was awarded for her service with four medals.
 * An RDC must be a Commissioned officer or higher
 * Must have at least six months retainability, or how long you have left in the military, in a unit
 * Good leadership
 * Good communications skills
 * Genuine concern for families
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Caring and experience in dealing with family support issues
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Must be knowledgeable about garrison support, where people are before they are deployed, community resources, and other matters.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And finally, they must understand relationships between Rear Detachment, FRG and family members, and other garrison support services. (Fort Gordon: Rear Detachment Commander handbook Sec1:7) Through all of her achievements as an RDC and a Signal Battalion Officer, she earned several medals.

__**Interview Questions**__

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This interview is taking place in Myerstown, Pennsylvania for the Veteran’s History Project in the Library of Congress. We are apart of the ELCO High School, and we are here with Melissa Regnell, born on December 24, 1964. She served during the Bosnian Conflict training soldiers in the U.S. Army. Her highest rank was a Captain. The interviewers are Lauren Regnell and Leah Mulholland. Melissa is Lauren’s mother. **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Where were you born? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Do you have any siblings? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. What did you do for a living before you joined the army? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Where did you live before you joined the army? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 5. Why did you choose the army over other branches? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6. What was your highest rank? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Why did you enlist? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8. Describe what basic training was like. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9. How long was Basic Training? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10. What was your MOS training? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">11. Describe what it was like. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">12. How long did you serve? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">13. Where did you serve? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14. What were the conflicts of the era you served? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">15. Can you describe what the Bosnian Conflict was? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">16. What did you do involving the Bosnian Conflict? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">17. Describe what it was like to be a Signal Battalion Officer. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">18. What did you learn for each required job? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">19. Where were you stationed? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">20. What did you do at each place? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">21. You were involved in the National Security Agency, correct? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">22. What did you do there? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">23. Where were you stationed at that time? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">24. Describe what being a Rear Detachment Commander was like. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">25. Where were you stationed? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">26. What did you do? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">27. Did you want to become a Rear Detachment Commander? If so, why? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">28. What were some of the medals you earned? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">29. How did you earn each one? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">30. When did you wear your medals? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">31. Did you enjoy serving your country and being in the service? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">32. Did you ever witness any action?. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">33. Did you make any friends? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">34. Did you keep in contact with anyone back home? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">35. What did you do in your free time? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">36. Where were you when the conflict finally ended? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">37. How did you feel when you reunited with your family and friends? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">38. What life lessons did you learn while in the army? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">**__Regnell Transcript__** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: This interview is taking place in Myerstown, Pennsylvania for the Veteran’s History Project in the Library of Congress. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: We are here with Melissa Regnell, born on December 24, 1964. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: She served during the Bosnian Conflict, training soldiers in the U.S. Army. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Her highest rank was a Captain. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: The interviewers are Lauren Regnell and Leah Mulholland. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Melissa is Lauren’s mother. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Where were you born? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I was born in Tripoli, Libya. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Where is Libya? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Libya is in the continent of Africa. The reason that I was born there was because my father was stationed as an airman on the island of Crete, and he had taken my mother over there to the island of Crete, and they didn’t have any facilities for women giving birth. So my mother was shipped over to Libya to, um, have me. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Do you have any siblings? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Yes, I have two siblings, I have two brothers. My, um, brothers are younger than me, um, one is four years younger than me and the other one is, um, ten years younger than me. (Talking to Lauren) You know them as Uncle Scott and Uncle Steve. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: What did you do for a living before you joined the Army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I was, I was a, uh, a high school student, um, when I first joined the Army in 1983, um, I graduated in 1983. And I joined as an enlisted person in the Army National Guard. I was a Combat Medic, um, from that point forward, I applied for a ROTC Scholarship, um, and, uh, that payed for my school. I had brief jobs of being a waitress, in that time frame, but the only real job that I had was the United States Army. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Where did you live before you joined the Army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I grew up in Pennsylvania; I, I went to high school at Manheim Central High School, not too far from here. It’s about a half an hour from here. Um, very much, um, like this community, a rural community. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Why did you choose the Army over the other branches? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: That’s very interesting, because my father was in the Air Force. Um, I don’t know exactly why, although I was very influenced by my mother, who, um, encouraged me to join the Army to pay for college. So, because the college, the, the Army had a great college payment program, and they were local to where I, um, lived, which was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, um, I joined the Army National Guard. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What was your highest rank? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: My highest rank was a Captain, or an O3, as they call it in the Army. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Why did you enlist? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Well, at the time, I, uh, was one of the first people in my family to think about going to college, and I didn’t know a whole lot about how to pay for my education, and the Army had a great program that helped you to pay for your education, so primarily, I joined the Army with the intent to get my education, but, um, I got so much more after I actually became, um, a soldier and an officer. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: What was some of the, the stuff, like, the so much more that you got after being in the Army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Well, nothing really compares to the education that the Army actually gives you, not to mention the fact that, um, being in leadership roles prepares you for so much more in life than, um, not having had that experience. I just am really very grateful for the fact that I was able to also know so many really wonderful, great people who came together for, um, one purpose, which was the mission to support whatever unit that we were in. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Describe what basic training was like. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Basic training was, um an eight week school, um, it was my first, um, time away from home. I was 18 years old, so if you can imagine, um, the first experience you have away from home. Literally, probably, I probably didn’t have any, um, experience sleeping overnight anywhere, and so I go to this thing called the United States Army, and it was an absolute shock. I can remember my first experience getting on what’s called a cattle car; it’s a very big truck, where they almost herd you in like cattle, and they transport you to the first location, and it’s a very high intense, um ,experience where people are yelling instructions at you, and, um, you’re trying to respond and you don’t know exactly what they’re looking for or what they want. But after awhile, you get acclimated to the environment, there’s a lot of physical exercise, um, they teach you some basic soldiering skills. For example, um, how to shoot a M16A1 Rifle. I got to throw a, throw a live grenade at basic training. That was a little scary because I was thinking ‘Oh my goodness, what if I make a mistake,’ um, but that’s, they try to give you as realistic of training as you can, because they know that you’ll ultimately have the potential to go to war, although I’ve never been in a conflict myself. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: How long was basic training? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I’m pretty sure, now you’re testing my memory, I think it was eight weeks long. Um, so I-I’m pretty sure it’s eight weeks long. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What was your M.O.S. training? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I was trained as a Combat Medic, which means, um, we had to do all the first aid things that people do, pretty similar to probably what’s done as a medic, um, who runs with the ambulances here, um. I know that ELCO has a really great EMS program, so it would be similar to that job. We were taught how to, um, take care of wounds. We were also taught how to treat shock, we were taught how to give I.V’s, and actually had to practice on one another with giving I.V.’s. Um, that’s a pretty interesting experience, um, to have somebody give you an I.V. whose never ever touched a needle before. But anyway, it was, it was a very awesome experience, and I’m very glad I had it. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Um, can you describe a little more about your M.O.S. training as a Combat Medic? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Sure! It was a course that was given at, um, in, um, Texas, and we went there, I wanna say it was between eleven and twelve weeks. I was on what was called the split option program through the Army National Guard, so I did my basic training, um, the first summer of my college year, um, my freshman year, and then I did, um, the next summer at, um, Fort Sam Houston, in Texas. About eleven or twelve weeks worth of training and we, we prepared for as close to real life, um, situations as possible. So there were field exercises, where we had to, um, transport, um, pretend victims from one location to the other under somewhat realistic environments, where they tried to pretend as though, um, there were battles going on. Um, it was a team-building kind of, um, situation, where you, you were put in charge of, um, not only treating the wounds of the soldier, but then transporting them back to where they could get more care. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: How long did you serve in the US Army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I served in the US Army for a total of seventeen years and nine months. Um, that includes my enlisted time and guard time, as well as my active duty time. My active duty time began in 1991, um, and I got off of active duty in the year 2000. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Where did you serve? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Well, primarily I served in the continental US, um, in Maryland, um, and in Germany. There were some other temporary assignments that took me from Fort Sam, Houston, to my training in, um, as a combat medic, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma as, um, with my training, um, as a Signal Communications Officer. Fort Gordon, Georgia to be trained as a Signal Officer as well. Um, my units in the US were the hundred and tenth signal battalion and the hundred and eleventh signal battalion and I served in the one-forty-first signal battalion in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Can you describe what you did while you were in Maryland and Germany? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: In Maryland an--let’s start off with Maryland. In Maryland, I was mostly in strategic communications, and I also served at NSA, and the alternate Pentagon, which is called Site R. Um, I served in various positions there at---from Platoon Leader to Company Commander. And, a lot of what we did was to support our mission, um, which was to provide strategic communications to different organizations such as NSA, FBI, CIA; some of those really interesting, um, security agencies. Although it sounds a lot more exciting than it really was because primarily it was just about taking care of soldiers, taking care of administrative businesses of the day, and making sure communications were up and working. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What were the conflicts during the era you served? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: There were several conflicts of which the only one I was personally supporting of was the Bosnian Conflict. Um, when I was coming on active duty, the first Gulf war had just, um, ended. It was January 17 of 1991. Um, after that, there were several other conflicts. There was a conflict in Somalia, but I was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia, going to school at that time. The conflict that I personally supported was the Bosnian Conflict; I was the Rear Detachment Commander of the 141st Signal Battalion, who had deployed to Bosnia. And, my role in that was as a Commander, also to do all of those administrative things to prepare soldiers to go to Bosnia. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Can you describe what you know about the Bosnian Conflict? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: What I, what I am aware of is there were three groups of, almost tribal groups, who were in conflict of one another. They were the Croatians, the Bosnians, and the Serbians. And there were certain groups among these tribal groups who were trying to dominate, and they were doing atrocities towards their own, their own people. And so the United States got involved to, um, help to eliminate those atrocities. There were many people who were killed and put in mass graves, there were lots of, um, land mines that were over there, that made it dangerous for our soldiers to be over there. Um, which is one of the things that I did was to prepare soldiers to understand what to do if they came across, um, a land mine. I wasn’t personally responsible for the actual training, but I oversaw the training. And, um, we were there to try to provide peace to a region that was in turmoil. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What did you do involving the Bosnian Conflict? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Um, I was what was called the Rear Detachment Commander. So I was responsible for deploying, and I was trying to remember the number, um, I wanna say it was close to 400 soldiers that we sent to Bosnia, over the entire year. The Bosnian Conflict, because it was a conflict and not actually a war, um, by law it had to end after 364 days, so we could only be involved in it for 364 days, and our unit deployed for 364 days. So, during that time frame, I was in the rear detachment, which means I was stationed at Bad Kreuznach, Germany. And all soldiers who were going to go down to Bosnia in support of the 141st Signal Battalion came through me. And, I had the responsibility to make sure that they had all of their equipment, all of their training. Um, in addition to that, as Rear Detachment Commander, one of my major functions was to serve as the leader of what’s called the Family Support Group. So if you can imagine the whole unit picking up and leaving, and going from one location to another, they leave their families behind. And then they need support for those families as they are down in Bosnia, because they’re not able to be called to come and fix something that needs to be fixed, or give help or support when people need help or support. That was probably the most rewarding and the most distressing part of my job, because there were some really tragic things that happened, um, while I was Rear Detachment Commander. We had, um, one of the family members lost her child, um, while I was there. So I had to support the family through the loss of a child. There was, um, a family member who was raped; I had to support the family through a rape. There was, um, a family member who, um, was hospitalized. There was a, um, soldier whose, um, family member lost their memory, had amnesia. So there were a tremendous number of problems that happened to soldiers while they deploy, and there needs to be somebody there who can kind of support the family, either through the crisis or until the family member can return from Bosnia to take care of their own family. Um, like I said there were a lot of tragic things that happened, but also it was very rewarding to be able to, to be able to support people through some very difficult times. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Describe what it was like to be an Officer in the Signal Battalion. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Officers work a very long, um, schedule. We had the responsibility for all of the soldiers beneath us, so I held various positions in a signal battalion. I was, um, what was called the S1, who is in charge of the battalion’s administrations, so I was responsible for making sure if there were any problems with peoples’ pay, any problems with, um, or any new circumstances that they needed to add to their record. Um, tracking statistics for the battalion commander. Um, in addition to that, I also served as the training officer. So, every task that a soldier needs to learn how to do, I was responsible for making sure that the Company Commanders had their soldiers trained and reported to the Battalion Commander, so he could say that our unit was ready for whatever, um, mission we were given. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: So, did you need to learn any new skills for your job? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: That’s a good question. There were a lot of new skills that needed to be learned, for each and every job that I’ve ever held, because you’re never completely trained for a job you actually have. Um, as an officer, you’re expected to learn on the job. Um, you’re not expected to learn by yourself, there’s always, um, a leadership, uh, chain of command, was what they called it, whose over top of you and who acts as a mentor for those different jobs. So, um, yes, you have to learn a lot of new skills, um, to perform any of those jobs. They also have a very good system in, in place. The Army is full of regulations, and guidelines, and what they called standard operation procedures. So there’s a lot of references that you can go to.. Not to mention the biggest reference for an officer is their noncommissioned officers; those are the people who you absolutely, 100% rely on, because they actually are trained in the areas, um, that you’ll be in charge of. So you really rely heavily on your noncommissioned officer, and it becomes a real partnership and team, team situation to, um, get the job done, whatever that job may be. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Where were you stationed for these jobs? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Like I said, um, before. I was stationed in many different locations. Some of those locations I was stationed for training, but primarily in Maryland and, um, Germany. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Can you tell us a little bit about Site R? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Well, Site R is what’s called the alternate Pentagon, so if you can imagine during 9/11, which I had already gotten out of the service by that time, um, when there is an attack on our nation, and they want to protect the leadership, they send them to what’s called the alternate Pentagon. So that they can run the business of the country, from a very well-protected area. Um, so it’s a very secure location, and, um, it provides outside communications that are very, um, durable and rugged. And it is an area that is then protected marines, so that we can have a secure location to run our government from, in the event of a crisis. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Can you provide specific examples of what you did at each place you were stationed? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Specific examples of what I did at each place... that’s what’s beautiful about the army is that you never really stay in one location for more than 2-3 years so you always have the opportunity to go somewhere new, with new people, and be exposed to new experiences. Like I said I served as a Platoon Leader, and as a Platoon Leader I’m in charge of a smaller number of people, and I was in strategic communications. It was satellite communications at Fort Mead. We supported many different agencies with those communications to include the President of the United States. His communications were supported by us when he went to different locations. So it’s not that I actually saw the President of the United States but I knew that we had to have good reliability to our communications facility because as, communications is as important as the President’s communications possibly could go through our sight. So, we, were, very... well my job was to make sure soldiers were well taken care of so that they could perform that mission. So I tried to to take care of all the administrative things that they needed so that they could be available and do the best job that they could do, at any one location. One of my next positions was to go to Bad Kreuznach, Germany, where I served as the S1. Like I said with that I also was in charge of making sure that the battalion’s administration ran well so anything that dealt with it, personnel, I was responsible for making sure they were taken care of. One of the things I haven’t mentioned before is, and I think an important thing for us to keep in mind, is soldiers do a lot of hard work and so for doing that hard work they get awards. That was one of the things that I was making, would make sure that soldiers got appropriately rewarded and recognized for the hard work that they did. I also served as the training officer in that battalion and then the rear detachment commander. The rear detachment commander was probably my most challenging position because of all of the real difficult real world things that happened to people just because you are in the United States Army doesn’t mean that bad things can’t happen along the way or difficult things don’t happen along the way so it was very rewarding to be able to support families as their loved ones were deployed to Bosnia. I then came back, worked as the company commander of a unit Site R and did a lot of the same things with just a slightly different mission. Our mission was to make sure that the headquarters and headquarters company supported the rest of the signal battalion that supported Site R. So we were mostly support. So you had supplies that had to be... provided to the soldiers of the units who were at Site R such that their mission could continue. There was maintenance that needed to be done on equipment that existed in Site R. I was in charge of the units that did that. After that I worked for NSA and my job was there was to support the requirements, to provide communications to different agencies, security agencies for our nation. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: You were in involved in the National Security Agency, the NSA correct? **

__**Regnell Narrative**__ **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Melissa N. Regnell lives in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. She served during the Bosnian Conflict training soldiers in the US Army; her highest rank was a Captain, or an O3. Captain Regnell was born in Tripoli, Libya; Libya is in the continent of Africa. She was born there because her father was stationed as an airman on the island of Crete. He had taken her mother over to the island of Crete, and they didn’t have any facilities for women giving birth. Therefore, her mother was shipped to Libya to have Captain Regnell. Captain Regnell has two siblings, both of which are brothers who are both younger than she. One of them is four years younger, while the other is ten years younger than her. ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Since the Bosnian Conflict was a only a conflict and not a war, the US could only be over there for a total number of 364 days, one year. During this time, she was stationed at Bad Kreuznach, Germany. She had the responsibility to oversee their training, and make sure that they had all of their equipment. Another major function of being the Rear Detachment Commander was that Captain Regnell had to serve as the leader of what is called the Family Support Group; she supported the families that the soldiers had to leave behind when deploying to Bosnia. There were a tremendous number of problems that Captain Regnell had to help families through while the soldiers were gone. Some of those problems included family members who were hospitalized, family members who had amnesia, and even a family member who got raped.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Yes that’s correct. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What did you do there? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regell: My primary job was to understand the requirements for communications to support different agencies so I sought out what requirements people had for communication solutions and I worked with other people to provide those communications to support the mission. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Where is the National Security Agency located? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: The National Security Agency is located at Fort Mead, Maryland. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: So what are some of the medals you’ve earned? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I received an Arcom and I’m especially proud of of my Parachute Badge. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: How did you earn your Parachute Badge? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: It’s kind of an embarrassing story because I have to admit that at the time I got selected to go to Airborne School. It was when I was in college and an ROTC student and I wasn’t the best student. As a result of not being the best student, my professor of Military Science came up to me and said that if I wanted to improve my grade, I needed to go to Airborne School. I was concerned about that because I am not so keen on heights, but I knew that I needed to do what I needed to do to get a good grade and so I said okay, I’m ‘gonna do this. Airborne School was a three week course. It was at, it was in Georgia, it was very physically demanding. They taught you all that you needed to do to be able to deploy a parachute when you jumped out of an airplane, might the... believe it or not, the most difficult thing for Airborne School was what was called the 34 foot tower. The reason the 34 foot tower was very difficult is because if you can imagine standing 3 stories high and looking down below you and everything is really real at that point. You can see people’s eyes, you can see everything. So to jump out, at 34 feet seems pretty scary and you’re like “What am I doing?”. You are attached to a static line so it’s perfectly safe to do but it was one of those things. So I was standing “in the door” as they say, they’ll tell you, you’re instructor says, “Stand in the door!” And then you take up a certain position and you “stand in the door” and I wouldn’t move. So they tap you on the bottom, they pat you to say go, because when you are actually in an airplane, and you actually have to experience this it’s very loud, there is a lot of wind it’s blowing through it’s... it’s quite a sensory experience. So they have to tap you to tell you, go. Then from that point forward everybody follows and everybody goes out as long as everybody is following the rules it all goes very smoothly. But like I said I’m standing “in the door” of this 34 foot tower and it was really scary because I could see the whites of everybody’s eyes down below watching us, and all I was hooked up to was. It was the first time I was hooked up to, the static line. And I’m thinking, “Is this ‘gonna hold me, is this ‘gonna be okay?” And sure enough I stood there, didn’t go when he tapped me, so he kicked me... out of the door, with his boot, kaboom! I went out pretty quickly and it was all okay. When you actually get up into the airplane, I was the second out the door every single time. Thank goodness I wasn’t the first, like that situation with the 34 foot tower because that is really scary. The wind is blowing, blowing in and the person has to stand there and you can see them rocking back and forth as they’re going to jump out into 1,500 feet of space, okay? Because you’re 1,500 feet above the ground. And so I’m standing there and I went out, and I landed like a feather. It was so soft. I, I, I, couldn’t believe how soft this parachute allowed me to land. And I actually stood up and there are people on the ground with bullhorns yelling at you because there is a certain way you’re supposed to land to protect your body. You’re supposed to roll, when you hit the ground and I had this, we called him Sergeant Airborne and he’s yelling at me saying, “Whatcha gonna do airborne, whatcha gonna do!” And I’m like oh, I’m supposed to fall, so I fell because I landed like a feather it was so soft so I didn’t know what to do. So it was an amazing experience even though I, it’s amazing for multiple reasons because I was able to work through something I was fearful of and actually get through it and find out that you know, it was all okay. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: How did you earn your Arcom Medal? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: When someone receives a medal like an Arcom, and you’ve served in a unit it’s primarily for all of the job that you had done the entire time you were stationed there so it’s on merit and doing a good job and then your battalion commander recognizes you for the job that you’ve done. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: When did you wear your medals? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: My medals are worn during ceremonial type events and/or special events so you wore a uniform called your Class A’s and on your Class A’s on the, on your chest you’d display your medals and that’s when I wore them. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Did you enjoy serving your country and being in the service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I enjoyed that time very much. I’m very proud of my service and my time, and the experience and all of the wonderful soldiers and officers I had the pleasure of serving with. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Did you ever witness any action? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: No I have never witnessed any action. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Did you make any friends during your service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: The, the beauty of the United States Army in making friends is almost more than friends, it’s almost like a family. Especially when you’re stationed in a unit overseas like Germany. If you can imagine going to a country where you don’t speak the language, you feel a little isolated. It’s an amazing experience and it’s, I wouldn’t give that up for the world but the soldiers and the officers of your unit become like your family away from home. So yes, I have made some very good friends along the way and my husband and I have one friend that is like our best friend that we keep in touch with today. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Do you still keep in contact with the friends that you have made? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I keep in contact with one in particular, my husband and I made a good friend along the way and he lives in Kentucky and his family has become like our family. As you know Lauren it’s almost as though Jesse is your cousin. So we are very happy to have him in our life and a part of our extended family. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Did you keep in contact with anyone back home while you were in the service? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I had some very good friends especially when I first joined the army. My high school best friends would write me letters while I was in basic training, and it really did help me to get through my first experience of being away from home. So yes, my mom and dad wrote me letters and then, letters were important in basic training because you weren’t able to get phone calls during that time; however, after you get out of basic training life relaxes a little bit and it’s just like you know, living here in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. You have a phone, you call. It’s hard being away from your friends and family, but you make new friends and, and that’s always wonderful as well. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What did you do in your free time? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: Free time... Honestly I have to say I didn’t have a whole lot of free time. As an example when I was a rear detachment commander, for Bosnia we worked 364 days. We did not have a weekend off. I worked 16-18 hour days and I only had about 4 hours to sleep every night for 364 days. That is the most time time consuming job I ever had, but because the army is not a 9-5 job, it’s not a job where you show up at one time and you leave at another. You did what you needed to do and I worked long hours. The free time that I had, once I had a family, was spent with my family and enjoying them because I had a lot of work to do. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: When you finally got out of the service, what was it like to finally actually have some free time? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M: Regnell: I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was, it was really hard going from working those kind of hours to not having a job, but what I did was I refocused my energy on my family because I had missed so much. For example, Alexander was born prior to the Bosnian Conflict. I probably didn’t see him for most than that first year because the hours that I kept as the Rear Detachment Commander. So I really refocused my energy on my family and spending time with them and getting involved with their activities and have loved it ever since. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: Where were you when the Bosnian Conflict ended? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I was still in Germany, and I had the pleasure of welcom, welcoming our unit back to Germany. Shortly after that time, it was actually sad for me to hear because a couple years ago we went back to Germany to see where I was stationed and that post does not exist anymore. There’s been a lot of changes, and a lot of downsizing, a lot of restructuring where the units are in the United States Army, and so when I went back to Germany to see the site where I actually served, it didn’t exist. It was a, it was a field with some of the barracks that I used to be in charge of but those barracks were now converted into apartment complexes for German nationals. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: How did you feel when you were finally reunited with your family and friends? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I can remember this distinctly. My husband and I, Daddy, came back from Germany and we were sitting in a restaurant, and we suddenly noticed the people were speaking English, and we could understand what people were saying, and it was such a strange experience because when you were in Germany and you went to a restaurant, even though I can speak a little German, it wasn’t enough for me to completely understand conversations, and so it was almost as if we were a little islands among ourselves in Germany, so when I came back I felt extremely glad to be back in the United States even though I loved my time in Germany. It just felt really good to be home, to be able to, and there were lots of things that happened from the time that we were stationed in Germany till we came home. The ATM cards we take for granted, became really big and were used in the local grocery stores. I could remember not knowing exactly what to do, with the ATM cards because some things had changed from the time we had left to the time we had come back. Another distinct difference between Germany and the United States was, at least when I served over there, there weren’t businesses that were open all hours of the night like we have here. WalMart, 24 hours 7 days a week. They also closed down during lunchtime over there, so the grocery stores were closed down and parents would go home and serve lunch to their kids, so you didn’t have as much access to things. Although I don’t really think that that’s such a bad thing because I think sometimes the Americans lives get too busy and, and, we want instant access and instant gratification to things and life seemed a little slower over in Germany with regard to that. But it’s my understanding now that they’ve opened up businesses later hours in Germany as well. So there was a whole lot more access. It’s almost overwhelming back, having been gone for only three years, but it was also very nice to be home. There’s no place like the United States. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mulholland: What life lessons did you learn while you were in the army? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M. Regnell: I learned, to really value people. I think people still continue to be the United State’s best commodity. I respect tremendously the amount of time that our soldiers have to put in, and the risks that they place themselves in, and the sacrifices that they make to perform missions and be away from their families. So I am incredibly grateful to the people who I knew as soldiers and COs and officers in the United States Army, and I am very proud to have know them. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">L. Regnell: Thank you for coming in, and we thank you for your service. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell was a high school graduate from the class of 1983. After graduating, she enlisted in the Army National Guard as a Combat Medic. She had applied for an ROTC Scholarship that would pay for her school. Before that, however, Captain Regnell held brief jobs of being a waitress, but her only real job was the United States Army. Previous to the Army, Captain Regnell grew up in Pennsylvania; she lived in Manheim, and went to Manheim Central High School. It was a very rural community. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell chose the Army over the other branches mainly through an influence through her mother, even though her father was in the Air Force. Her mother wanted her to join the Army because it had a great college payment program, and it was local to where she lived, which was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Even though her intent of joining the Army was to get her education, she got so much more after becoming a soldier and an officer. Captain Regnell states that nothing really compares to the kind of education that th Army actually gives you, such as learning how to be a leader. Captain Regnell is very grateful that she had the honor of knowing so many wonderful, great people who came together for one purpose: the mission to support whatever unit they were in. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Basic training was an eight week school, and it was Captain Regnell’s first time away from home. She was eighteen years old, and had never had an experience sleeping over anywhere before. So, going to the United States Army was a complete shock for Captain Regnell.She states that basic training was a very intense experience, where people are yelling instructions at you while you try to respond. After awhile though, she says she got more acclimated to her environment. There is a lot of physical exercise when being taught basic soldiering skills, such as throwing a grenade and learning how to shoot a M16A1. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell’s MOS training was as a combat medic. As a combat medic, she had to do all of the first aid things that people would do. She and others were taught how to take care of wounds, how to treat shock, and how to give an I.V; they actually had to practice on one another. This course was give in Texas and lasted for around 10 to 11 weeks long. Since Captain Regnell was on the split option program through the Army National Guard, she did her basic training the the first summer of her freshman year of college. The next summer, she held her MOS training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. She would prepare for situations that were as closely related to real-life situations as possible. There were field exercises in which she had to transport pretend victims from one location to another in realistic environments. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell served in the United States Army for a total of 17 years and nine months. This includes her enlisted time, her guard time, and her active duty time. Her active duty time began in 1991, and she got off of active duty in 2000. Captain Regnell mainly served in the United States, in Maryland, and in Germany. She had several temporary assignments that took her from Fort Sam Houston, Texas as a combat medic, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be trained as a Signal Communications Officer. She also was at Fort Gordon, Georgia to be trained as a Signal Officer. Her units in the US were the 110th signal battalion and the 111th signal battalion. She also served in the 141st signal battalion in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While Captain Regnell was in Maryland, she was mostly in strategic communications, serving in the NSA and in the alternate Pentagon at Site R. She served in various positions such as Platoon Leader and then Company Commander. A lot of what Captain Regnell did was to provide different strategic communications to different organizations such as the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA. She primarily worked to take care of the soldiers, and to take care of administrative businesses of the day to make sure communications were up and running. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The conflict in which she served was the Bosnian Conflict as the Rear Detachment Commander of the 141st signal battalion. As a commander, she also had to do all of the administrative things to prepare the soldiers going into Bosnia. The Bosnian Conflict itself was a conflict between three tribal-like groups: the Croatians, the Bosnians, and the Serbians. Certain people amongst these groups were trying to dominate each other, and were doing atrocities towards their own people. Because of this, the United States stepped in to eliminate those atrocities. Many people were killed and put in mass graves, and there were a lot of land mines that made it dangerous for the soldiers; because of this, one of Captain Regnell’s jobs was to prepare soldiers to understand what to do if they ever came across something such as a land mine. Also, as the Rear Detachment Commander, Captain Regnell was responsible for deploying the 400 soldiers that were sent to Bosnia. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell was also an Officer in the Signal Battalion.Officers had the responsibility of all of the soldiers beneath them. She held multiple positions in the signal battalion; one would be what was called the S1. They were in charge of the battalion’s administrations, making sure that there weren’t any problems with people’s pay or any problems with what needed to be added to anybody’s records. Another job she held was to track statistics for the battalion commander. She also served as the training officer; every task that a soldier needs to learn how to do, the training officer was responsible making sure the Company Commanders had their soldiers trained with that information. As an officer, you were expected to learn on the job. However, they weren’t expected to do it by yourself; they were under the leadership of the chain of command, so a lot of new skills were needed to be learned in order to perform any jobs that they were asked to do. The biggest reference for an officer is their noncommissioned officers;those are the people who they were able to rely on 100%. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Site R, one of the places in which Captain Regnell was stationed at, is what is called the alternate Pentagon. Any major attack that is placed on our nation, a place is needed for the communications to go through in order to protect the leadership. That way, the business of the country could be run from a very well-protected area. This location is protected by marines, so that when outside communications come in, they can be well protected and that we can have a secure location to run the government from in the event of a crisis. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell was never stationed for more than two to three years at a time so she got to meet new people, go to new places, and be exposed to new experiences. She was in strategic communications at Fort Mead, Maryland. In some cases, her communications supported the President of the United States, even though she never saw him. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell also made sure that soldiers could perform a certain mission. She went to Bad Kreuznach, Germany, and she was an S1. She was also in charge of making sure that the battalions administration ran well. Captain Regnell liked to reward soldiers as the deserved it. She dealt with families of soldiers that deployed to Bosnia during the conflict as well. She made sure soldiers at Site R had their equipment. After that, Captain Regnell worked for NSA (National Security Agency) and was there to secure agencies for our ation. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell earned two awards: the Arcom X, and the Parachute Badge. She earned her Parachute Badge by going to Airborne School and jumping out of planes. It was a very exhilarating experience for her. She earned her Arcom X medal by being recognized for excelling at her job. She wore her medals while she wore her Class A’s, which were ceremonial uniforms. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell enjoyed serving in the army and being with new people. However, she felt isolated during her time in Germany, but made friends there. Everyone there felt like a family, she said. Being a Rear Detachment Commander, that took up 364 days a year, and she worked sixteen to eighteen hour days. Captain Regnell didn’t get a lot of free time, and when she retired from the army in 2000, it gave her more free time, and that was hard to adjust to. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When the Bosnian Conflict ended, she was in Germany, and it was difficult to adjust back to the United States because in Germany, everything happened at a much slower pace. A few years back, Captain Regnell went back to Germany to try and visit where she had been stationed, but much to her disappointment, it did not exist anymore. In the army, Captain Regnell learned that soldiers put a lot of hard work into their jobs, not expecting anything but being able to serve for their cause. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Captain Regnell, overall, served her country well, completing and filling out the jobs that needed to be done. She trained over 400 soldiers to deploy to Bosnia, and helped support their families while they were gone. We thank Mrs. Regnell for her service. **