Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrick Clayton [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Brittany Hanly works on a vehicle. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Junior civil engineering major Brittany Hanly (center) stands with Maintenance Platoon 644 in front of two vehicles they repaired. [Click to enlarge]

For Brittany Hanly, life has moved in fast forward.

Hanly joined the Army Reserves in high school, graduated, trained as an Army mechanic and served in the Iraq war all before she turned 20.

"When I look back and see everything I've done," she said, "to be honest I am kind of amazed that I did it, I've gone over there and served, and I'm back"

Now that she has a chance to pause and rewind, Hanly says she has no regrets.

Hanly, a junior civil engineering major, always had an interest in the military. After talking to a recruiter, she decided the Army was the right fit for her. At 17, signed up the summer before her senior year, a move that came as a shock to her friends and family.

"My friends thought I was crazy - especially at 17 and still in high school - they thought I was insane," Hanly said. "My family was really supportive. I didn't really talk about going into the military so whenever it came up, it was kind of a surprise for them but they supported me."months of training, they return to life as a civilian waiting for the call to step up to active duty, if needed. The appeal of the reserves included tuition assistance benefits and the allowance for her to pursue college immediately after graduation.

"I joined after 9/11 but before the war started," she said. "At the time I knew there was a possibility [of active duty] but I wasn't expecting to go as soon as I did."

The possibility of being called to active duty became a reality when Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, and the Army began relying on its reserve troops. The original unit called up wasn't enough to meet the needed numbers, so Hanly was shifted from her unit to serve.

Though the sudden thrust into duty at such a young age could prove challenging for most, she was grateful it came when it did.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Hanly said. "It's hard no matter when you go but I think it was easier on me because I hadn't started college yet, so I didn't have to drop out of school. There are a lot of people who have family - a husband, a wife or kids - but I was single and basically had no bills or any type of responsibility."

Straight from graduation gown to fatigues, Hanly went through nine weeks of basic training, 10 weeks of Advanced Individual Training and three months of preparation training before serving in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005.

"Basic is hard and it's challenging, but at the same time, if you are willing to go through it, it's easy," Hanly said. "You just have to be willing to put up with it; you have to be willing to let the drill sergeants break you down to build you back up."

Her time at Advanced Individual Training was spent learning the technical and mechanical skills of her job; wheeled vehicle mechanic. The mechanics are responsible for the maintenance of Army ground vehicles and must know how to assess and fix any problems; a job Hanly considers a perfect fit.

"I enjoy working on vehicles," Hanly said. "I don't mind getting greasy or dirty."

In Iraq, mechanics have a more standard job than most soldiers, allowing for a certain routine of waking up, working on the vehicles on base and returning to the barracks to eat, sleep and do the same thing the next day.

But the routine was sometimes disrupted by the other aspect of the job. A wheeled vehicle mechanic's presence is required on all the missions of delivering supplies from camp to camp. The mechanics took turns completing each mission.

She was the youngest member of her unit and one of the few females. She described the experience as unique.

"I got the whole protective side of everybody," she recalled of her tour in Iraq. "It got annoying at times, but I was glad for it, too."

She said her fellow soldiers soon became her family away from home. "You grow close to these people - they become your family, so I understood why they became protective," she said. "A lot of them were like uncles or older brothers to me - and like your family, you love them, but at the same time you can get annoyed and sometimes it's just like, 'Leave me alone, I can do this.'"

The soldiers are confronted with danger on a daily basis and have to develop a way to cope with it.

"A lot of us were fine, because we had people to go and B.S. with and just let the stress go," Hanly said. "I had several people I could go talk to about whatever and play card games. The camp morale kept up pretty well. We had times that lowered it but at the same time, we kept going."

Looking back, Hanly calls it a growing experience. "I grew up a lot, and I grew up fast," she said. "It made me realize what the important things in life are: my family and my friends."

Coming back as a 20-year-old veteran was a time of uncertainty and re-evaluation.

"When I came back from overseas, I did not know what I wanted to do," she said. "After I got back from Iraq, my plans just went completely blank; I was basically starting from scratch."

With her desire for an education as a starting point, Hanly began to re-adjust to life as a civilian. She attended San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, for two years. Once she took her basic classes, she realized she wanted to study civil engineering and, after researching the best engineering schools, decided on Texas A&M.

Hanly said starting college as an Army veteran affected her college experience immensely.

"I've never done the whole dorm thing because by the time I got here I was 22 years old," she said. "I'm also less susceptible to the whole party side of college. I'm more ready to study and get things done than to get distracted with that aspect."

Though she is still a member of the Army Reserves, Hanly's eight year contract expires in one year and she does not plan to renew it.

"Right now, as it stands, I'm not renewing it. I have been in for eight years, so I'm just ready to get out," said Hanly. "It could change before the year ends, but right now, [when] the contract ends, then I'm done."

Now laying down the fatigues in exchange for another graduation gown, Hanly plans to finish her degree and continue on to graduate school in geotechnical engineering.

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