There is one female soldier stationed at the Joint Combat Outpost, Baqubah, Sergeant Byrne. She is one of the three cooks we have. I asked her some questions about her job to find out what it's like to be the only woman in a large group of men. Here she is standing in front of the mess tent.Spc. Matsick: Do you like your work? How long have you been in the military?
Sgt. Byrne: Yes, I like my work. I've been in for six years.
Spc. Matsick: What's the best part about your job?
Sgt. Byrne: Making the guys happy.
Spc. Matsick: what's the worst part?
Sgt. Byrne: Being in Iraq for such a long time. This is my second deployment.
Spc. Matsick: Where are you from?
Sgt. Byrne: San Diego, California.
Spc. Matsick: Are you married and do the guys hit on you a lot?
Sgt. Byrne: No, I'm not married. The guys are respectful for the most part.
Spc. Matsick: Do you ever make foods that aren't authorized?
Sgt. Byrne: No, no messing around in the kitchen. Sometimes we improvise though. For example the other day we made gravy by mixing the juices from meatloaf and soy sauce. People said it tasted great.
Spc. Matsick: I wasn't sure what it was at first, I thought maybe like a cheese dip. Do you know how to carve fruit and make garnishes?
Sgt. Byrne: Yes, The most common one we do is to make a rose out of a tomato. That comes up pretty often. I can make carvings out of pineapples or watermelons too.
Spc. Matsick: Would you consider preparing food after the military?
Sgt. Byrne: I worked at a few restaurants before enlisting; Sizzlers, a seafood restaurant, and a retirement home. It's my profession.
3 comments:
What a delightful interview! Sgt. Byrne must be one of the most appreciated individuals at the JCOP!
Thanks for keeping it so interesting, Amos.
Love,
Mom
Hi ,(98b food service specialist 107th armored div. Warren ohio guard 1987-1995) Just wanted to say its good to read something from my brothers and sisters that dont get recognized because we're behind the scene,but are inadvertently recognized by fellow soldiers. So just wanted to say thanks and "Always Foward!"
Hello and thank you for your interest. I decided to interview Sgt. Byrnes because she was the only female stationed at our outpost in Ba'Qubah, Iraq. This gave me and others a chance to learn about her MOS, 92G. I was 11C mortarman attached to headquarters and would only occasionally see her put the food out in the "mermites". I like that word. After the interview I gave her a special care package sent from home If you read the side panel of the blog it mentions Dino Campanis and all of the care packages he sent me. Well she got one, mainly toiletries. Have a nice day.
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