I have served in the United States Army Reserve for more than half my life- 26 years. During that time I have NEVER volunteered for a job. It's a known cultural stereotype- in the Army you don't volunteer. But this past January I received a call to which I couldn't say no. So why was this mission different from all other missions? Because it was an opportunity to travel to Iraq and conduct Passover seders for Jewish service members. To bring the feast of freedom to those who are on the front lines defending freedom! It felt like I had been waiting my entire career for this opportunity and so, with my husband's support, I called the Pentagon and said yes.

The adventure began with two weeks at the CONUS (Continental U.S.) Replacement Center at Ft. Bliss, Texas. This is where individuals who will be traveling to "the theatre" as individual replacements, i.e., not with a unit, go for training in Soldiering/Surviving 101. Following a pregnancy test and 6 shots, the medics also took a DNA sample. Knowing how much of one's health history can be gleaned these days from DNA, I naively thought that I might gain some insight into my medical future. "Oh no", they reassured me; "this is just in case your body can't be identified from dental records." Sobering.

We had a refresher course on how to evaluate and treat a casualty. The medical evacuation system is functioning so well that individuals who are wounded are generally in an emergency room within half an hour. The Army is working hard to re-educate soldiers to encourage the use of tourniquets. At one time they were strongly discouraged, as so many people lost limbs. But with medical treatment so close by, tourniquets are saving lives, though, sadly, many limbs are lost due to injury.

Issuing duffel bags full of gear, remembering how to use a gas mask, briefing upon briefing upon briefing (stress management, cultural sensitivity, Red Cross, sexual assault, etc., etc., etc.) Land navigation was a chance to see what it's like to be out in the heat in full "battle rattle"- body armor, Kevlar helmet; we all had blisters to show for that event. I learned many skills that I was pretty sure I would never use- how to operate a traffic control point, search and tag a captive, use the global positioning system, high crawl/low crawl.

With the major threat coming from Improvised Explosive Devices, we spent a significant amount of time on convoy operations and the latest intelligence on enemy tactics.

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