My name is Kathy Silvia and I served in the United States Army.
I am currently the Baltimore National Cemetery Director, responsible for five locations in maintaining the grounds at our national cemeteries.
I was a senior in high school and was trouncing through about two feet of snow to go home after basketball practice one day and I thought maybe I just want to get out of the house.
I'm the fourth of nine kids and the family didn't really have enough money for college for me so I explored, uh, trying to enlist in the army.
So I went up to a recruiter to ask him what kind of jobs he had in the army and he said, 'Well, what's your rank in class? What's your SAT score and how you doing in school and what sports I do.'
So I ended up not enlisting in the Army but getting deferred to West Point.
The recruiter actually knew that the law had just passed in October and I think I saw him in December.
I ended up applying; it was a very very quick process and I was behind the 8-ball time wise, but, um, I got an alternate appointment from Senator Kennedy and then, um, I was accepted.
In retrospect they could have given the Academy maybe another year to get the facilities ready, but, at any rate, they did the best they could.
Looking at it, you know, 30 years later I think we raised the institution's standards just by being there and it also collaboratively changed just how they approach leadership, being mixed-gender leadership as opposed to just all male.
It took a little bit of perseverance from all of my female classmates as well as the male classmates to get them to that spot but I think the place is a better place and it's doing much better.
It's not an issue, you know, 30 years later so...it produces an awesome product and I'm very proud of everybody I served with.
My classmates are my family in a lot of ways.
So I got through school and served five years in the field artillery active duty.
In 1985 I was field artilleryůI was number two in gunnery.
I knew how to operate a missile outfit.
Trying to figure out what next job would be in the field artillery, the Department of the Army came and visited our outfit in Germany and said, 'This is what you can do, guys.'
'You can do cannons, you can do this,' and, you know, they mentioned five M.O.S.s that the guys could do but only missiles and target acquisition for the women.
And actually they wanted the women to leave, so they basically said, 'You guys can do everything; you women go away.'
'We have no career path for you.'
I once had a battalion commanderŚan infantry battalion commanderŚtell me, uh, 'You'reůYou're not doing a service to the gentlemen that are in the foxhole fighting.'
And, 'I bet you're the kind that's gonna be afraid to get your fingernails dirty,' and I'm like, 'Let me prove you wrong.'
And about a year later he's looking at me saying, 'You know how to crawl down in this tank.'
'I know how to drive that tank, sir, you know, so just let me do it.'
I decided at that time to branch-transfer to Logistics, Quartermaster.
That way I had some marketable skill on the outside and, um, it was a smart move.
I understood what a combat arms needed because I was one and then I switched over to a support role to make sure they had everything.
I had come back from Korea and the division support commander said, 'I need to send somebody with a top-secret clearance, like, tomorrow, to Panama.'
And he had three names; mine was one of the three names and two other gentlemen.
And I said, 'Well, I don't have any problem going and this is why you should send me, because I already have a top-secret clearance that I had when I was doing nuclear weapons.'
I ended up going to Panama. It was scary.
At one point I got picked up by the P.D.F.; at another point I was looking down an AK=47 loaded and he was ready to, you knowů
The hotel we were staying at got hit.
I was with two other guys and we were in a rental car and we couldn't make it back to our room.
So, uh, we didn't have any weapons with us; we didn't have any ammo; we had no recourse and our hotel got hit by the P.D.F.Śthe Panamanian Defense--
ľAnd I was in the back seat and I just kinda slid down as far as I could go.
He didn't end up firing, but we could not get back to our hotel.
Continued active duty until 1988.
I got out, went into the Reserves and I was active reservist from '89 to '99.
I was involved in deploying the first transportation units over to the Gulf War.
I didn't go myself but I skipped around New England and shipped out transportation and logistics unitsůmake sure they were ready to go to the war.
So, um, then I had a break from being a reservist and when 9/11 hit, I was mobilized in 2003 for three months to get another transportation unit ready to go.
I learned a lot about trainsŚit was, uh, the only train battalion in the United States Army inventory so it was quite unique.
They sent the advance party, then teamed up with the British and then the British and the American railway teams actually handed over that function to the Iraqi Civil Affairs and the Iraqi, uh, people.
So, um, our unit did not deploy; we went back homeŚagain, you know, I was on reserve tourů
ůand I said, 'Well, I may as well throw my name in the hat to stay in uniform full time and finish my 20, so that's what I did.
I served another period from 2003 to 2006ůgot sent to the border of Kuwait and Iraqů
ůspent most of 2004 overseas.
2006 I got out of uniform.
The VA health careůin 1988 I saw them in Boston, in the Boston Region and Providence, Rhode Island and it wasůyou know, I'll kind of give you the progression here becauseů
In 1988 I'm walking into the VA in the Boston Region and the response you got was, 'Excuse me, miss, can I help you find your dad?'
ů You know, 'Are you lost? You couldn't possibly be the Veteran.'
I think now, 2009, '10, '11, it's more of, we have a place.
Salisbury, North Carolina is great, um, they had nice training videos, uh, had all my exams done there and there was really, umů
ůuh, a great staffůI can't say anythingů
ůactually I wrote to the director of that medical facility because they do a terrific job there.
Women are flying combat aircraft, they're flying apache helicopters, doing pretty much everything.
You're in every role, you're a medic, you're riding the convoy, you're getting toasted by I.E.D.s.
You're getting the injuries, you're serving alongside the guys.
There's no, as Secretary Shinseki said, there's no battle linesůit'sůit'sůyou're there.