WASHINGTON, Aug. 26,
2003 - During her travels to South Africa to visit friends,
Sterling Gill listened to those who had to fight to protect their borders during
a recent border war with Angola.
From the other side of the world, Gill decided to become an active part of
the defense of her own country. "It made me very conscious of the fact
that, as an American, I was fortunate to not have to worry about defending
my borders against communism," the Gunnery Sgt said. "I realized
that I was very lucky to be an American, and felt that I needed to give something
back to my country."
Gill acted on her decision and enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve. She
began training at Paris Island, S.C., and then received her military specialty
training in computer programming at Quantico, Va.
"I joined as a reservist," Gill recalled. "I figured I could
handle anything for a weekend and two weeks in the summer."
Beginning work with a motor transport unit in Augusta, Ga., Gill was transferred
to Texas, California and then overseas to countries such as Okinawa and the
Philippines.
She eventually returned to Augusta, where she completed her degree in history
and international relations. She then returned to Texas and ended up with
the 4th Recon battalion in 1995. It was there that she met her future husband. Their first meeting was while "jumping
out of a perfectly good helicopter into a lake," she said, noting it will
be a good story for the future grandchildren.
Gill's travels to South Africa not only prompted her to join the service,
but also foreshadowed her work with other cultures. After serving in a variety
of positions, Gill began working for the Interallied Confederation of Reserve
Officers in 1996, which was her first joint service experience.
"It's very interesting," she said. "I was lucky enough to be able
to go over with the team and take notes, do travel claims…(take) pictures
and historical annotations…and (get) some articles published for the
team, but it was very interesting to be able to travel over to that type of
environment and talk with our NATO allies and get their feel, and their perspective
on things."
Following her tour with the confederation team, Gill accepted a position
in the international programs area for the Office of the Assistant Secretary
of
Defense for Reserve Affairs. There she worked in readiness, training and
mobilization for an exchange training program involving Great Britain, Germany
and the United
States. For two weeks during the summer, 20 German and 20 British officers travel
to the United States, in exchange for 40 American officers who trade places.
"They spend two weeks out in tanks, and in the dirt," Gill said. "Let's
say we bring a tank officer over here … to the United States. He goes
out to a National Guard unit, or a Marine Corps unit, and we put him in a
tank, and he goes out and plays the whole exercise with that unit."
"And what it does is it allows them to get hands-on experience with
what we do, and how we run our training," she said. With this hands-on
experience, Gill said the officers benefit from improved relations.
"I think the biggest benefit is the interpersonal relations," she
said. "So
many people come back and say, 'I had a really great time,' and a lot of
it has to do with who they talked to. 'I had a great time because my sponsor
over
there took me out, and we went and we toured Germany, then we sat down and
we briefed this' … and it's that personal connection."
This personal connection, Gill said, aids in joint operations. With an increase
in exercises among the branches of service, she said this carries over into
training with U.S. allies. She said working together facilitates communication
between the forces.
"It allows for there to be …a better working relationship if they
know each other," she noted, "and I think that's extremely important
in this day in age where we have a lot of these coalition forces going into
different
places.
"We need our allies, there's a reason we have them," she continued. "and
it's nice to be able to say, not only are we allies, but I know this guy,
and he's a friend."
All sides can benefit from looking at training at another angle, she said,
and improving efficiency. "It opens up the possibilities to improve our
training, to improve how we do things, and it gives us insight into another
way of doing it," she said.
"It tends to take away that 'us and them' (mentality)," Gill said, "so
you have a better working relationship when you do go overseas and get into
that situation."
For the past six years, Gill has been working at her current job, making
policy and giving oversight to help maintain the program. She said the program
is
always in motion.
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