The sweet, little girl grows up

Kimberly Romano speaks like a sweet, soft-spoken older sister. She wears her wavy hair in a bun. She is refined and feminine, whether in a halter-necked top and tight jeans or in her Army uniform and no-nonsense combat boots.

By just looking at her, it is difficult to imagine Romano being in any military situation.

But then, she will probably be the first to say that she does not fit the stereotype of a woman in the U.S. Army.

Now 22, Romano recalls herself as a “lazy” teenager. She was a dutiful daughter alright, but she had no desire for any physical activity. She disliked being bound by too many rules.

During a month-long vacation on Saipan last month, she spent almost every night partying and hanging out at whichever bar her best friend/“big sister” Lovely Dottino and the Big Beats Band were playing.

But while she might look different from the typical female soldier, Romano’s reasons for enlisting were common ones—adventure and lack of money for college.

She joined the Army two years ago, going through basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

“It was physically hard, but it’s even harder mentally. Never mind that we had to do foot marches of up to 12 miles or practice rifle shooting in the rain; but it was really tough having the instructors yell at you all the time and keep telling you [that] you can’t do it,” Romano says.

Suffice it to say, she can now run miles and withstand yelling commanders.

After boot camp, she went on to receive advanced individual training at Fort Lee in Virginia. She trained to be a supply specialist for 13 weeks, obtaining as much knowledge and experience as she could in preparation for her future assignments.

In April last year, Romano was deployed to the southern Afganistan city of Kandahar.

For one whole year, she performed logistical and other support tasks, and came face to face with human cruelty and death.

“My main job was to ensure that our vehicles have sufficient replacement parts to keep them running, so our areas will be secured. But sometimes, I would also go with the [military police] when they search for bombs or any weapons that might cause us harm. I would also participate in female search missions. This could be dangerous because you normally have to take your head gear off when you do this, to show the Afghan women that you’re also female. They wouldn’t let the men do body search on them,” Romano says.

She said there were at least two instances that made her question the purpose of the war, but her personal will to succeed subdued her doubts and fears.

The first was when she was tasked to help in treating injured soldiers in the Army hospital. The other experience took place during the Afghan elections when she and her colleagues spent so much time secluding an area for the locals to vote, only to find everybody killed by the Taliban when they came back in the morning.

“It was very scary. I wanted to go home. I was thinking, ‘Why sacrifice your life for people who don’t want your help,’” she said. “But I signed up for the Army knowing all its consequences. I knew I’d be put in situations I wouldn’t want to be in. I have to succeed,” she says.

Her experience in Afghanistan was very enlightening for her in that it made her realize how fortunate she was being a woman from a more liberal society.

“Having been around Afghan woman made me appreciate simple things like being able to show your face and go to school or anywhere without being asked if you’re female,” she says.

By the time her vacation ended in the middle of last month, Romano still did not know where the service would take her next. It could be another year in Afghanistan or likely in Iraq.

Wherever she is going, Romano is ready. “Like in any other job, there are ups and downs in being in the military. I know that we cannot do everything for other people; they need to help themselves first. But when I think of how people benefit from what we do, I feel better,” she says.