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Hurricane Maria made Spc. Amanda Siegman and Pvt. Mysha Rouzard exceptions to that rule.
Instead of reporting to drill at their home armory in Lawrenceville to learn their new routine, Siegman, a personnel specialist, and Rouzard, an intelligence analyst, boarded a plane at the end of September to join the 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s ongoing humanitarian relief mission in Puerto Rico.
Call it on-the-job-training. On steroids.
“The first time walking into a unit and they said: ‘Pack your bags.’ ” Siegman said. “Good thing I love it.”
Siegman, who has a master’s degree in counseling, fell in love with the idea of joining the National Guard when her husband, Adam, a member of the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 150th Assault Helicopter Battalion got accepted to Army flight school at Fort Rutger, Ala. and the couple spent more than a year there immersed in military culture.
“I decided then that this is what I want to do,” she said.
She attended basic training and advanced training at Fort Jackson, S.C. and finished at the end of August.
“I do admit that I expected to spend some time back in New Jersey and just go to a regular drill and get to know everyone,” she said. “It’s fine. I’ve gotten to know everyone here.”
Rouzard, 20, got a similar call after finishing her advanced individual training at Fort Hachucha, Ariz. For the sophomore business analytics major at Montclair State University, it meant a semester delay. She says it was worth it.
“It was pretty exciting to get an opportunity like this right away,” she said.
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2017 14:50 |
| Story ID: | 254848 |
| Location: | NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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