7-28-08

Desirea Gardner

After enduring a year of active duty with her National Guard unit based out of Lock Haven, Pa., Desirea Gardner has returned to Lycoming College as a full-time student. Now residing in Williamsport, Gardner is working toward a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, with interest in pursuing a research position.

With her return to Lycoming, she’s also been given the opportunity to extend her professional résumé as an intern for the College’s Clean Water Institute. Her duties as an intern have allowed her to participate in various stream, river and pond water monitoring, and learn about wastewater management.

Gardner originally came to Lycoming after graduating from Hughesville (Pa.) Area High School. But after a difficult freshman year and an extended amount of time off to work locally, she decided to enlist, motivated by the desire to become a more focused person.

In October 2003, Gardner ventured to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for six months to undergo basic and advanced individual training, and by March of 2004, she was fully trained to work as a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense specialist. Her duties involved the protective measures taken to defend against incidents involving the deliberate use of these resources as weapons.

Gardner collecting water information through Lycoming's Clean Water Institute

“Once I finished with basic training, I had a definite attitude change,” Gardner said. “I’ve also become much more patriotic.” The training was a rather testing experience, Gardner admits, mostly due to her small size.

“Basic training was tough when I was going through it,” Gardner said. “Obstacle courses were hard for me, being so short, but once I graduated, everything I was so stressed about seemed really funny.”

When graduation day finally came, her determination and perseverance earned her an honor much more meaningful than anything a diploma can provide. “My drill sergeant pulled me aside at graduation and told me ‘You just proved how much you wanted it by the fact that you worked that much harder,’” Gardner said. “It meant a lot to me.”

After officially stepping into her boots as a soldier, it wasn’t long before Gardner's unit was called to duty. Like most who enlist, Gardner had other concerns on her mind.

“When I joined, I knew my chances (of being sent to the Middle East) were pretty high,” Gardner said. “I was more nervous that my daughter wouldn’t remember me when I got back.”

Gardner found herself leaving her family and daughter, only 7 months old at the time, to join roughly 75 other men and women in uniform from her unit.

“Once you’re in a unit, they become a small family outside of your family,” Gardner said. “It’s a support system. I’ve grown close with a lot of them.”

Gardner’s family has a long history for supporting its country. Other family patriots include her brother, who is serving in the United States Air Force, her father, who fought in the Vietnam War, and her grandfather, who served in World War II.

During active duty, Gardner was deployed to three locations: Germany, Iraq and Kuwait. Despite the long hours and laborious tasks she endured while overseas, her passionate views on the cause so many soldiers are fighting for is deeper than any introductory-level political science class can cover.

“If I was the average American sitting at home watching the news, I would want to leave Iraq too,” Gardner said. “But, if you talk to any soldier over there now, they’d ask ‘Why?’ We really are doing some good things over there.”

While based in Germany, where her unit became part of a company of roughly 200 soldiers, Gardner had the opportunity to travel around Europe, including stops in Munich, Berlin, Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Amsterdam.

“When you go to different parts of the world, you see how lucky we are,” Gardner said. “You really appreciate being American and take advantage of everything you have.”

During Gardner’s trip to Luxembourg, she was fortunate to visit the World War II cemetery where General George S. Patton is buried.

“It’s so beautiful, it was breath-taking,” Gardner said. “On the other side of town, is the German cemetery, which is a very humbling experience because there’s so many tombs marked ‘unknown.’  It’s a very somber place. ”

As far as her deployment goes, Gardner sees herself simply as a soldier showing up to do her duties, not as a hero fighting for her nation’s cause.

“It was my job,” Gardner said. “You do what you have to do and I know millions of others have gone out and done the same thing. I don’t think of what I’ve done as anything special.”

In fall 2007, Gardner finished her active duty and temporarily hung up her soldier uniform to return to her studies at Lycoming, a notion she thought was going to be very difficult. Upon her homecoming to Lycoming however, Gardner admits she was pleasantly surprised.

“Returning to school wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” Gardner said. “I was really intimidated since I was gone for so long.”

As far as her return to what most would consider a normal life, Gardner is home enjoying the everyday experiences she wasn’t able to have while overseas. “I get to finish college, which is something I started a long time ago,” Gardner said. “My daughter’s 3 now and getting to watch her grow is really rewarding.”

Now, with five years left on her contract, Gardner continues to spend a weekend a month and a two-week training session in the summer with the National Guard. This year, she will be attending a Warrior Leader Course, which is a month-long class that teaches specialists and corporals the basic skills to lead small groups of soldiers. It has an emphasis on leadership skills and prepares soldiers to advance to the rank of sergeant.

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