00:00:01JONES: Today is April 22, 2026. This is an interview being conducted via Zoom with Army veteran Cindi Aasen. The interviewer is Raleigh Jones. This interview is being recorded for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Project. Cindi, why don't you start by just telling us a little bit about your early years?
00:00:36AASEN: My early years; I grew up on a small or in a small town in Arcadia, Wisconsin on a dairy farm. We had actually quite a large dairy farm and I have two sisters, a brother, and wonderful parents. We had, at our peak, we were milking 150 hud and we had cattle on two other farms that we raised until they were mature to be dairy cows. So that really was a big part of our life growing up, working on the farm. And then throughout school, I was involved in different-- different events or different things, um, sports. I was in involved in cross country and track. Um, I guess that's a-- that's the big part of my-- my early childhood.
00:02:04JONES: Did you come from a military family?
00:02:09AASEN: I did not come from a military family. So, it was very difficult for my parents to accept that I was joining the military. I was-- when I wanted to join, I was 17 at the time, and I asked my parents if they would sign, and they quickly said no, they would not. [Laughs] So the delightful child that I was, I said, fine, I'll join when I'm 18, which would have been-- or was two weeks later. And even my grandmother, she was not very supportive and thought I was being spiteful in regards to joining the military. I politely tried to explain that I want money for college and my parents' concern was that if I joined the military, I wouldn't go to college and they always said, you wanted to go to college, you're not going to make your dreams come true. So, I did prove them wrong.
00:03:25JONES: I forgot to ask this, but what was your place in the birth order? Were you the oldest, the youngest?
00:03:33AASEN: I was number two out of four.
00:03:41JONES: And had your older siblings gone the military route?
00:03:48AASEN: No one in my family went military except for myself.
00:03:53JONES: So, it was just you who decided to go the military route. Okay. So, other than the pushback you've already talked about, was there other pushback that you got? What about, say, from your peers in the high school?
00:04:12AASEN: Because growing up in a small town, we didn't have really a local armory. So it was a rather foreign concept to them. And I don't know that I shared tremendously that I had done that. There were some people that knew I joined the military and some of my teachers, and they were very supportive of me joining. I joined as a split option, meaning that I did my basic training after I graduated from high school, before I started college. And then I completed basic, came back, did my first year of college and then the following summer I completed my MOSQ [military occupational specialty qualification] school.
00:05:13JONES: We're gonna have to take that in order, okay? But before we do that, what I want you to cover is did you join and do the paperwork, say, when you were like a senior in high school?
00:05:32AASEN: Correct, I did. So, I joined November of 1986, and that was my senior year of high school.
00:05:49JONES: Okay, and then you completed-- but after joining you didn't do anything in the military for the next five months.
00:05:57AASEN: I went to drill.
00:05:59JONES: Okay, oh, you did? Okay.
00:06:00AASEN: Yes. So I did complete drill during those months that I was not-- that I had not gone-- gone to basic training and I was-- I guess not, I guess qualified at the time, but I did go to drill.
00:06:25JONES: Now, let me ask this question. You've used the term drill. Could you explain what you mean by that?
00:06:34AASEN: So what drill is, it's for the National Guard, because I joined the Army National Guard. It's the one weekend per month where whatever unit you joined, you get together, they have what they call drill, and they work on various tasks, completing various tasks, testing, if there are certain test requirements or maintaining their equipment, that was a big piece because I joined a transportation unit. So, we had vehicles and other equipment that needed to be maintained. There also were weekends that we would go out to complete field exercises at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
00:07:51JONES: So let's fast forward approximately six months and presumably you graduated in May of the next year.
00:08:00AASEN: Correct.
00:08:01JONES: And then tell us what happened next.
00:08:06AASEN: Well, then it was time to leave for basic training. So that was-- that was a big thing because I really had not been a world traveler until that time. And it was hard for my parents when I left, especially, I think, my dad. I had never seen him-- I don't want to say cry, per se, but I know the day I left, he had a tear in his eye and he told me good luck and he was proud of me and all of that.
00:08:51JONES: And after that, tell us where you went off to for basic training.
00:08:58AASEN: I went to Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training.
00:09:09JONES: Okay, tell us about basic training.
00:09:13AASEN: Well, that was quite an awakening [laughs]. It kind of made me second-guess my choice because you're not-- that would have been 1987, you don't get welcomed with big open arms and a big hug or anything. There was a lot of yelling and-- [laughs] and screaming and rush here and rush there and [laughs] it was at that point I'm like, oh my goodness, what did I do? [Laughs] But I've really never been one to back down from a challenge so-- and I really don't want to be that person that said, oh, I made a big mistake. I'm like, okay, this is the choice I've made. I need to follow it through. It was then that we got introduced to push-ups and dying cockroach exercises.
00:10:19JONES: Tell us about the physical component that you just alluded to. Could you go into a little more detail?
00:10:27AASEN: Regarding the physical component, we were what they call dropped for push-ups all the time. Meaning that any slight little infraction or any time that our drill sergeants felt like things weren't going according to plan, they would drop us for pushups. So we would be standing in formation and you knew you were getting dropped when you would hear "column half right face" and that's where you would turn and then they would draw up us for push ups. And it didn't matter if we were on grass, if we were on crushed rock, if we were on blacktop, it didn't matter. So after a period of time, your hands got a bit calloused, but in the end, it was quite an experience because after one of the components to passing basic training is that you must complete-- at that time they called it the Army Physical Fitness Test, APFT test. And that has three components. One of them being push ups and sit ups and then a two mile run. So you could do great on all your basic training tasks, but if you did not complete the physical aspect of that, you would fail.
00:12:21JONES: And what was the name of that test again?
00:12:24AASEN: It was called a APFT. Army Physical Fitness Test.
00:12:30JONES: Got it. And how did you do on that test, ultimately?
00:12:40AASEN: Ultimately, I did excellent because another-- I don't know, maybe advantage, disadvantage, was that when I hear something funny, I just kind of burst out laughing. Well, our drill sergeants, they had very dry senses of humor and they would say something silly and I would try not to burst out laughing, but ultimately I wouldn't. They'd drop me for push-ups because you're not supposed to laugh, but so I got dropped for pushups a lot. [Laughs] But I did very well completing pushups.
00:13:31JONES: Is it safe to say that you would probably good physical condition after basic training?
00:13:42AASEN: Oh, very much so, yes. Because you never would walk from point A to point B. You would always need to be running. That was another component. And every morning, we would have what we called PT, physical training. So we'd have physical training every morning for approximately an hour. And then you had a short period of time where you got back to the barracks and you could clean up and then you had to be back in formation in your correct uniform ready for breakfast and then ultimately on to the day's training.
00:14:39JONES: I forgot to ask this, so I'm going to go back. Were you in basic training with other males or just females or were there males also in your unit for training?
00:14:57AASEN: Our platoon was just females. There were platoons of males, but our platoon was just females.
00:15:15JONES: So, basic training, was it nine weeks long, approximately?
00:15:23AASEN: Uh, I think so, yeah, I think so.
00:15:33JONES: Uh, is there anything about, uh, your nine weeks of basic training that we have not covered that you wanted to talk about?
00:15:42AASEN: It was pretty-- I mean, it was typical basic training type things, you know, initially, they break you down into what feels like your lowest form and then they build you back up. And do you complete things that you never thought you would be able to do in-- I mean, my quickest or my most fast two-mile run happened in basic training. You know, I ran-- I ran in high school, but I was an average athlete. I wasn't the most advanced in running. So for me to finish my two-mile run, and that was after doing push-ups and sit-ups, I finished my two mile run in like, 12 minutes and I still remember the time, 12 minutes in 58 seconds, so for me, that was-- that was pretty good and I remember taking our last APFT test. There were many soldiers taking the test at one time to include males. And I remember on the track and our drill sergeants would be betting against each other which soldier is going to beat the other one. And there was another male soldier and his drill sergeant was betting with my drill sergeant. My drill sergeant said, "private, if you don't beat this soldier, I'm going to smoke you when you're done." [Laughs] That was the terminology they would use for other [laughs] physical challenges until you couldn't move hardly anymore. So I was like, oh my gosh, [laughs] I am not going to get smoked.
00:17:59JONES: I know-- I remembered that you ran track in high school. How did your two mile run of almost in 13 minutes, how did that compare with what you did in high school?
00:18:11AASEN: Oh, that was well above what I did in high school. And I was a middle distance runner and yeah, I ran cross country, but, um-- And I did do a two mile run on occasion, but I did not have as good a time on my two mile completion as I did from basic training.
00:18:40JONES: Ergo, that's when you were in peak physical condition.
00:18:45AASEN: Right. Right.
00:18:47JONES: Okay, well, okay, let's move on from basic training and tell us what happens next in your story.
00:18:57AASEN: So, from-- I, you know, graduate basic training, I come home, I go to my first year of college, so I'm a freshman in college, and I continue to do the weekend drills with my unit. And time passes at school, the summer rolls around again, And now I'm leaving for my MOSQ school, my Military Occupational School, and that was a vehicle driver. Transportation.
00:19:43JONES: And is that when you went to Fort Leonard Wood?
00:19:46AASEN: Yes.
00:19:58JONES: And you said, as a what type of driver?
00:20:04AASEN: Uh, it's transportation, so a vehicle driver. It was 88 Mike, was my MOS.
00:20:15JONES: 88 Mike.
00:20:17AASEN: Correct.
00:20:21JONES: And how long was that training at Fort Leonard Wood?
00:20:26AASEN: Hmm. That's a good question. I don't know if it was-- I think it maybe was very similar in time to basic training, maybe a week or two longer.
00:20:52JONES: And was that training less physical?
00:20:57AASEN: It was less physical, but we still had the physical aspect. We still had PT in the morning, and we still would periodically get dropped for push-ups. But it wasn't to the extent, so it would be like, a little bit more relaxed with the focus on the education piece of learning your skillset.
00:21:30JONES: Okay, tell us about that part of your life. Presumably you went to-- you had classroom instruction for, was this like, four hours a day?
00:21:42AASEN: Um, generally, it could be a day, it could be four hours a day. It could be all day. And then the following day we would be working with the equipment. So with the-- I believe it's called Motor Transport Operator as an 88 Mike. So you learn the aspects of the vehicle to include maintenance and all the aspects that you need to know to drive the vehicle. And you start with a smaller vehicle. So our first vehicle that we learned to drive was, at that time, was the Jeep. And you would do the maintenance and then you would go out on a driving course and drive and then, you know, as time progressed, we advanced to larger vehicles to all the way to dump trucks and I think they're called 9-11s. It's the semis with the trailers, tractor trailer. And then you have to be able to do the maintenance. You have to able to change the tires. And then, you have be able back it. Back it into a lane or go through a lane and then back that trailer in, as if you were backing to a dock. I had no problem backing a trailer or driving because I grew up on the farm. So, I understood how, when you're backing, the different concepts work. So, it wasn't so much of a challenge. I mean, it wasn't so much a challenge for me. So, I was able to grasp that concept quite easy.
00:23:55JONES: Say, I'm gonna go back in this question. Tell us about why you wanted to do transportation.
00:24:12AASEN: Why I chose the MOS that I did was because that was the armory that was close to where I was going to college. And they had an opening.
00:24:34JONES: And so that was basically the reason you chose transportation, correct?
00:24:39AASEN: Correct. When I joined, I didn't initially join thinking I would be a 30-year career combat vet, but I just joined for money for college, really.
00:25:08JONES: So, uh, tell us a little bit about what life was like at Fort Leonard Wood outside of your training. Were you being trained with other women?
00:25:23AASEN: We had male and female, so it was a mixed platoon. And we didn't necessarily have a tremendous amount of free time outside of training. They kept us pretty busy. And if we had free time, you could go to the PX, you could go the MWR Center where they had like, a pool table and things like that. But as we progressed through our training, towards the end of our stint at Fort Leonard Wood, we did get an off-post pass where you could go off-post like a Friday and you had to come back on-- I think it was Sunday, or you left Saturday morning and you have to back Sunday. Something like that.
00:26:48JONES: Anything else about your time at Fort Leonard Wood that we have not covered that you'd like to talk about?
00:26:57AASEN: No.
00:26:59JONES: So after your training at Fort Leonard Wood is over, what happens next?
00:27:05AASEN: So I come back to my unit now, and I am fully qualified. And so shortly after I return, I get promoted to E-4. I joined as a E-1 private. And after being qualified, I was able to get promoted to an E-4 specialist. And for me, I always want to be prepared for the next level of promotion, so I, you know, after you make E-4 and, you know, you do missions, missions being haul missions, completing your two-week annual training, then the other aspect was going to school to become an NCO, a non-commissioned officer. So as soon as I was able, I submitted for school and I went to school.
00:28:26JONES: Before we get to that, going back, when you said you returned, was that to the 273rd Engineering Company?
00:28:38AASEN: Correct.
00:28:39JONES: Okay, could-- tell us a little bit about that unit.
00:28:43AASEN: The 273rd Engineer Company at the time was a dump truck company. So we had dump trucks and we would do different missions, some of them within the community to build roads, hauling dirt. We did that type of work and we did a mission that was taking an old railroad trail and turning it into a walking path. So and that involved hauling and fill and doing a number of pieces like that.
00:29:34JONES: Now, when you were with the 273rd, this was in Onalaska?
00:29:39AASEN: Onalaska, correct.
00:29:41JONES: Okay. When you returned, initially, was this just a part-time position, or was this full-time?
00:29:53AASEN: No, it wasn't full time. It was a regular Guard, National Guard unit. So that means one weekend a month and then two weeks during the summer.
00:30:15JONES: And during your time that you were not serving, what was happening in your personal life at this point? Were you working? Did you have another job?
00:30:30AASEN: I did have another part-time job and I was going to college full-time.
00:30:37JONES: Okay.
00:30:37AASEN: I also happened to meet my now husband at one of our drills. He was also part of the 273rd.
00:31:06JONES: So, um, tell us a little bit about, you said you were going to college, and did you finish college?
00:31:18AASEN: I did. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Marketing.
00:31:38JONES: Okay, and while you were a full-time student on the weekends, you're doing your gig with the 273rd and then presumably also doing your time in the summertime as well.
00:31:55AASEN: Correct.
00:31:56JONES: Okay.
00:31:57AASEN: And then I also had another part-time job.
00:32:11JONES: Okay, and so about what year was it that you finished college?
00:32:17AASEN: I finished in 1991.
00:32:26JONES: Okay, so what happened after you graduated from college?
00:32:33AASEN: After I graduated from college, I got married, I accepted a full-time position where I was working part-time, but it was a position in accounting versus customer service. And I continued doing the one weekend a month, two weeks during the summer or two weeks annual training, typically during the summer at that point. And then I believe it was in 1988-- in 1988, the 273rd went from a transportation unit to a bridge unit, a panel bridge unit. So what that means is I had to get a new job title, a new MOS, because the position I was holding now turned into a male only position. So, then I went to another MOSQ school to learn commo and commo maintenance with the 273rd.
00:34:23JONES: Okay, so you went to another school for additional training.
00:34:27AASEN: Correct.
00:34:28JONES: And was that in the summertime?
00:34:31AASEN: Yes, so that MOS was 31 Victor.
00:34:47JONES: And that is an acronym for what?
00:34:51AASEN: That is an acronym for unit level commo maintenance, communication maintenance. So essentially we would set up a communication, especially if you go out on a field exercise, you would set what they call the TOC [tactical operations center], where communication would come in via radios, you would have a switchboard, you'd set up your antennas so the unit would have communication.
00:35:29JONES: And where did you go for that schooling?
00:35:33AASEN: That was-- hm. I believe that was at Fort McCoy.
00:35:54JONES: Okay. So you got trained and your new MOS was 31 Victor.
00:36:04AASEN: Correct. So, time passes again, and I want to make E-5, but I cannot do that in communication. So I went to another MOSQ school for a unit clerk and that MOS was a 75 Bravo.
00:36:45JONES: And the term 75 Bravo is an acronym, I take it, for unit clerk?
00:36:51AASEN: Unit clerk and personnel admin.
00:37:00JONES: Where was that training at?
00:37:04AASEN: That training was in Georgia.
00:37:10JONES: Do you remember the name of the camp?
00:37:14AASEN: Hm. I do not. But the city was Macon, Georgia.
00:37:31JONES: Okay. Wow, at this point, if my math is correct, you've been to schooling for three times beyond basic training.
00:37:41AASEN: Um, there was another point, another time in there, and that was for a non commission officer training.
00:37:50JONES: Okay, now was that-- did you do the non-com training after the time in Georgia?
00:37:56AASEN: Hm. I believe so, yes.
00:38:05JONES: Where'd you go for the training to be a non-com?
00:38:12AASEN: I went to Camp Ashland, Nebraska.
00:38:23JONES: Camp Ashland?
00:38:25AASEN: Yes, that's in Devil's Lake-- no, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Yep. Camp Ashland, Nebraska.
00:38:38JONES: Tell us about the non-com training.
00:38:42AASEN: It was good training. I mean, they teach you how to be essentially a squad leader. And the unit that I was in, it was a good unit because our squad leaders would mentor us so that when you actually went to non-com school, I could march troops. I knew how to conduct a PT test, all of those pieces. So, that was a two-week school and I did well at that school and it-- there were aspects of it were classroom and you learn navigation, land navigation, all of those aspects.
00:39:29JONES: And was this schooling that you went to in the summertime as well?
00:39:33AASEN: Correct.
00:39:42JONES: And after the training in Nebraska, did you return back to Wisconsin?
00:39:50AASEN: I did. I returned back to Wisconsin.
00:40:04JONES: And at this point, are you still-- this is after the 273rd, correct?
00:40:14AASEN: I was still with the 273rd at that time. Some more time passes and the 273rd is disbanded and turned into-- and that was I believe in 1992, it was turned into a heavy-- a HET company. And what HET stands for his heavy equipment transport. So that means that we have HETs, and the HETs haul tanks, helicopters, APCs. They haul equipment of that magnitude, bulldozers.
00:41:05JONES: In layman's terms, you hauled big construction equipment.
00:41:12AASEN: Correct, and military tanks. And with that movement and that change, we were moved to Black River Falls, Wisconsin.
00:41:36JONES: So your unit moved, or you moved from being based in Onalaska to Black River Falls?
00:41:44AASEN: Correct. And the unit now was called 1158. 1158th Transportation Company.
00:42:18JONES: Okay, when-- Now, at this point in your non-military career, are you still working in accounting?
00:42:35AASEN: I am. Yes.
00:42:38JONES: Okay. It's quite an interesting visual picture to see you work mentally, being in an accounting job in your day position, and then on the weekends and in the summertime, you turn into essentially a heavy equipment operator slash driver.
00:43:04AASEN: Correct.
00:43:05JONES: That's quite the-- quite the dichotomy.
00:43:08AASEN: It wasn't dull. I mean, if you were tired of one, it was a nice breakup of, you know, looking at spreadsheets and numbers, all of a sudden, you're doing something entirely different that's not remotely related. [Laughs] So as the unit transitioned to the transportation company, again, I moved back into a transportation role. And with that, we had to go to a two-week school to learn how to operate and drive the HETs and trailers. So the heavy equipment transport in the associated trailers. So that was another two-week school.
00:44:03JONES: And approximately when was that?
00:44:06AASEN: Um, I-- I would say that would have been like, 1992.
00:44:26JONES: I've lost track of how many training schools you've been to at this point, but I think we're up to five [Aasen laughs] at this point
00:44:33AASEN: Well, and there's also as I continue to do that and move through the non-com rank, after I got promoted, I went to, at that time, what we called the next level-- Oh, goodness, what was that called? But it was the-- BNCOC, Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Training. The first one I went to was just primary non-commissioned officer training. The second one I want to was BNCOC, Basic Non-Commisioned Officer Training.
00:45:31JONES: And then when that training was over, you went back to your unit in Black River Falls?
00:45:37AASEN: Correct. And at that point now, I was a squad leader. So I had a squad of HET drivers.
00:45:54JONES: And when you say by now, this is approximately 1992-ish.
00:46:01AASEN: Um, yeah, '92, '93-ish. Yes.
00:46:13JONES: And are you still working in accounting at this point in your day job?
00:46:18AASEN: Yes. And by this time-- well, two years later, so 1996, I had my first son. And then 1998, I had my second son.
00:47:12JONES: Okay. And are you still-- after the birth of your two sons, are you still working in accounting?
00:47:23AASEN: Yes. [Laughs] Yes, I am. And then--
00:47:40JONES: And then-- and then, tell us about how when you have infant sons, tell us about like, your requirement to serve on the weekends and in the summertime. Tell us how that worked.
00:47:59AASEN: That requirement doesn't change. My husband and I, who he also was in the Guard as well, we were very fortunate because our parents would take the boys for the weekend. So we would drop them off Saturday morning and we would pick them up after we were done with drill on Sunday. So we were very fortunate in that respect.
00:48:44JONES: Was your husband in the same Guard unit as you?
00:48:48AASEN: He was up until-- I'm-- up until the unit turned into the 1158. He went to the Wisconsin Military Academy at that time.
00:49:16JONES: Okay. But again, the point is that from the perspective of the Guard, they want you to fulfill your service on the weekends and the summertime, regardless of the fact that you have infant children.
00:49:41AASEN: Correct. It's all part of the deal.
00:49:47JONES: No exceptions, in other words.
00:49:49AASEN: No. And six weeks after, you need to be able to make weight and pass your PT test.
00:50:07JONES: Okay, so not only that, you have to be still in good enough physical shape to pass the physical, correct?
00:50:16AASEN: Correct.
00:50:28JONES: Tell us about that.
00:50:30AASEN: That was really tough. I had-- after I had my first son, I probably was-- I don't know, maybe two, three weeks after I had them, I'm like, okay, I gotta start doing push-ups, sit-ups. I could not do one sit-up and I was freaking out. I'm, like, oh no. [Laughs]
00:51:03JONES: If you don't pass the physical test, does the Army say, in essence, okay, this relationship is ended?
00:51:18AASEN: They had not. They will put you on what they call remedial PT. So-- but I didn't want to be on remedial PT.
00:51:31JONES: Okay. In the private sector it sounds like it's related to, say, putting someone on a performance improvement plan.
00:51:44AASEN: Yes, very much so. Very much so. That's exactly it. [Laughs] Like you failed, and so this is what you need to do now.
00:51:54JONES: Just like employees don't want to be on a PIP at work, you did not want to be on the Army equivalent of that.
00:52:02AASEN: Correct.
00:52:03JONES: So you-- you did what you needed to do to pass the fitness-- fitness test, correct?
00:52:09AASEN: Correct.
00:52:13JONES: Um, so, the second son, we're up to approximately 1998 at this point, and you're-- in addition to your children, as we've talked about, you're still working in your day job of accounting?
00:52:32AASEN: Correct.
00:52:37JONES: So at this point, let's move into the early 2000s.
00:52:42AASEN: Well, in 1998, I actually transferred to the Army Reserve.
00:52:51JONES: So at that point, you've been in the--
00:52:56AASEN: The National Guard. The Army National Guard.
00:52:59JONES: For 13 years.
00:53:01AASEN: Correct.
00:53:03JONES: So you were in the National Guard for 13 years. Then in '98, you moved to what?
00:53:14AASEN: I moved to the Army Reserve.
00:53:25JONES: And what was the reason for that move, that transfer?
00:53:29AASEN: Promotion. So, on the National Guard side, at that point, there wasn't a lot of room for promotion. And I was already a staff sergeant, an E-6. I wanted to get promoted to like, an E-7. So I transferred to the Army Reserve. I went to another school to become a 51-Hotel and that's construction operations.
00:54:18JONES: Okay, so backing up, in '98 when you were with the National Guard, what was your rank at that point? You said E-6 what?
00:54:27AASEN: Staff Sergeant.
00:54:28JONES: Okay. And, uh, if you stayed with the Guard, you were going to stay in your rank as a staff sergeant.
00:54:45AASEN: Probably pretty stagnant.
00:54:51JONES: So you moved to the Army Reserve in 1998.
00:54:59AASEN: Yes. And the unit was-- it's called FEC Northwest. So that stands for Facility Engineer Center Northwest. And that was part of the 416th Engineer Comm.
00:55:27JONES: And that was based in Chicago?
00:55:29AASEN: That one was based in Fort McCoy.
00:55:40JONES: And you also said that before, as part of that process, there was more schooling involved.
00:55:46AASEN: Yes, I went to another school for construction, and it was a 51-Hotel. And it was actually interior electrician.
00:56:08JONES: Interior electrician, tell us about that.
00:56:11AASEN: Um, that school was at Devil's Lake, North Dakota, and that school was-- was a bit challenging. I was the only female in that-- in that class. And throughout your career as a female, sometimes you pick up on different things, like if you're the only female, are you truly accepted? Do you feel that there may be bias? And that was really the first time I felt gender bias. From the instructors, ironically. But nonetheless, I was not going to be defeated. And interior electrician for me, I mean, you have to be able to do a number of things overhead, like you have to be able look at your wiring diagram and then do your electrical runs, but you have be able like, drill above head. And for me, I'm not a huge person, so it was hard for me to reach. But then also with the drill, the drill's heavy, but you have to drill through whatever you're running the electrical through, and then you have be able to wire it, and I was able to do that, but I was not as fast and as quick as the rest of the guys were, and one of the guys was going to help me and the instructor, just like, you know [laughs], he's like, "She's got to be able to do this herself," blah, blah blah. And I'm like, I can do it myself. It's not that I can't. It's just going-- it's taking me a little bit longer. So that school was-- it was very interesting. Interesting dynamics in that school, but I certainly passed, so. And to me, that's just ironic. That was just in 1998. They still had some of those biases, gender biases.
00:58:46JONES: Okay, so after that class you returned back to Madison or to Wisconsin?
00:58:53AASEN: Yes, to Fort McCoy.
00:59:11JONES: Also, this was just after the birth of son number two.
00:59:19AASEN: Correct.
00:59:21JONES: And I take it that one of the reasons you were able to go to that school, presumably, this was in the summertime?
00:59:32AASEN: Correct.
00:59:33JONES: Was because, as you said, you had the parental support available?
00:59:39AASEN: Yes. So, from that aspect, my career could not have been what it was had I not had support.
01:00:02JONES: Okay, so at this point now was in the early 2000s.
01:00:10AASEN: Yes.
01:00:12JONES: So tell us about those those years.
01:00:16AASEN: So, I went to my third non-com school, senior non-commissioned officer course. And as a result, I got promoted to E-7, Sergeant First Class. And became a--
01:00:36JONES: Just a second. Okay, so you got promoted to Sergeant First Class E-7.
01:00:46AASEN: Yes. And then time passes, I get promoted to Master Sergeant, and now it's 2004.
01:01:11JONES: And when you got promoted to Master Sergeant, is that still an E-7 or are you an E-8 at that point?
01:01:17AASEN: I'm an E-8. And in 2004, I deployed to Iraq.
01:01:32JONES: Okay, now let's go into that in detail. First off, were you simply told you're being deployed?
01:01:51AASEN: I was part of a facility engineer team and that team was notified that we will be deploying.
01:02:05JONES: So in 2004, when you get this notification that you're going to be deployed to Iraq, do they tell you in advance how long the deployment is going to be?
01:02:18AASEN: Yes, it will be at a minimum 12 months in country, is what they refer to it as.
01:02:29JONES: Now, at the time you got in 2004, when you got this notice of deployment, are you still working in accounting?
01:02:39AASEN: Yeah, yes.
01:02:41JONES: Okay, so tell us about how you dealt with, you know, going to your employer and saying, hey, I'm going to leave for at least one year. How did they take it?
01:02:55AASEN: They were very supportive. So I was fortunate. They were supportive from that aspect.
01:03:22JONES: Okay, so does that mean that they told you when you come back, you have a job with us?
01:03:29AASEN: Correct.
01:03:44JONES: Okay, so, tell us about the arrangements that you worked out with, you know, your home life. How did that work out?
01:04:03AASEN: That was challenging. Because my boys were not that old. My boys were in kindergarten and second grade. And that was tough. It was very tough leaving them. And my husband was going to be the dad and the mom. And again, we're very fortunate because both sets of our parents were relatively close, and we have wonderful friends.
01:04:44JONES: So let me interrupt you. Your husband was not deployed at that point?
01:04:50AASEN: Correct.
01:04:56JONES: And I take it that we haven't addressed this, but is it safe to assume that your parents are relatively close by?
01:05:08AASEN: Correct.
01:05:21JONES: And did those two set of parents for that one year assist with the watching of the boys?
01:05:33AASEN: Correct. They were very supportive.
01:05:45JONES: Just as an aside, it seems to me that you were very lucky to have that support network.
01:05:52AASEN: Very lucky, very fortunate.
01:06:01JONES: Okay, so after you've made those arrangements in 2004, your unit goes to Iraq, correct?
01:06:13AASEN: Correct. At first we had, prior to actually leaving country, we had one month of pre-deployment training at Fort Leonard Wood. So I left for Fort Leonard Wood for a month. And then we had a long weekend where we could go home. So, I came home and saw the boys and everybody. And it was tough leaving again because my youngest one, specifically, he just like grabbed onto my legs and begged me not to leave and said, "I promise I won't fight with my brother."
01:07:00JONES: All that stuff.
01:07:03AASEN: That was hard.
01:07:16JONES: I-- not only that, but it's-- it's a-- Just so unusual in that it's mom going off for deployment.
01:07:30AASEN: It was hard all the way around. I mean, my husband thought that it should be him and not me. And it was hard, all the way around.
01:07:53JONES: But again, the-- the military is not that sympathetic to those types of concerns and in essence is saying, you're wearing the uniform, we've decided you're going overseas and you're going to a hot spot.
01:08:16AASEN: Correct. So, pack your bags.
01:08:20JONES: Okay. So after your training at Fort Leonard Wood and the final visit home, it's 2004 and you're off to Iraq. So tell us about that.
01:08:33AASEN: I deployed on a facility engineer team, so there were a total of eight of us. I was the--
01:08:41JONES: What was the name of the team again?
01:08:43AASEN: Facility engineer team. They call them FET We were FET 9.
01:08:54JONES: Now, on this unit or on this team, are you the only female?
01:09:00AASEN: I am the only female.
01:09:08JONES: Okay, so you get to Iraq here, you're the only female on this facility engineering team, and what portion of Iraq were you in?
01:09:21AASEN: We got in country and we were at-- initially we were at Baghdad International Airport. They called it BIA, Baghdad International Airport right outside of there. And we stayed there for approximately two weeks. And then we moved north to Taji. And by this time, I had been in the military long enough to know that when you acquire something that is considered a bit of a luxury item, like a bed with a mattress, you really don't let it go. [Laughs] And I did, otherwise we just had cots. And I have to say the guys that I deployed with on the team, they were amazing. We were all like siblings. So they were a great group of guys. And when we deploy as a team, we don't have all the resources that a larger unit would have because we are supposed to align with a bigger unit in country for those resources. So when we deployed, we had our basic personal gear. And then we had our laptops and weapons. We didn't have transportation, we didn't have supply, none of those types of pieces. So whatever you need, you need to figure out how to get those pieces. And a portion of that would come with the unit you align with. The unit we aligned with was sending us to Taji. So that's north of Baghdad. And moving day rolls around and our colonel, who is the team lead on our team, he had been a previous commander for one of the other units that was getting ready to rotate back the States, and they had vehicles. So that is how we were going to get to Taji. He arranged for them to come with their vehicles and help move us to Taji. And so moving day rolls around and we're putting things on the truck that we're taking and I told him that the bed and the mattress had to go. And this is my funny story and he said, "No, we're not taking that," and I said, "Sir, we are taking that." And at this point the colonel and myself were senior rank compared to truck driver that was there to help us load the equipment. So he kept looking back and forth. He's like, I don't know what to do. [Laughs] And finally, I told the colonel, I said, "I'm not leaving without the bed," and he's like, "Throw the blank bed on the truck and let's go." [Laughs] So, we get to Taji and Taji is very rough. Taji is a old coalition base and there still are remnants from the war that they had with Russia. There's bombed out buildings, equipment that's just along the makeshift road. So our mission was to develop the infrastructure and the living conditions for those living on base. When we arrived, they had-- they were just transitioning the burnout latrines to porta-johns. So there was, I don't know, a short period of time where there were burnout latrines, but those transitioned to porta-johns, so that was nice. In regards to our living conditions, we were given two rooms in a bombed out building. So there no roof, there was resemblance of some type of walls, and that was-- those were our living quarters. So we split, there were four of us for each room. And the guys would tease me. They called me princess because I had a bed and they just had the cots. [Laughs] So yeah, they would ask me, they're like, "did you sleep okay, princess?" And I said, "yes, actually I slept very nice. Thank you." [Laughs]
01:15:34JONES: We haven't addressed this yet, but I assume it's safe to assume that the locals are not used to seeing a female in uniform.
01:15:51AASEN: That's correct. That is correct.
01:15:56JONES: How did they take to you?
01:15:58AASEN: They did not initially take to me. I was also the pay agent, so what that means is when we arrived, our team was tasked with a number of pieces, and that was the electrical grid layout. That was the road network layout. Developing and doing QA on living quarters. And for some of these tasks, we had to bring in the locals or the local civilians. And the way you would pay them, you would them in cash. Because of the infancy of the base, while it was called the FOB, Forward Operating Base, we didn't have all the resources initially on that FOB. So I would travel-- it would be via convoy or chopper at night to a more developed base to draw cash, to draw funds. And that's-- That's kind of-- my first take on it was like, oh my goodness. I went with one of my fellow team members to draw cash and we drew 80,000. And I work in accounting and finance and-- But I had never been given 80,000 in small bills in my whole life. So, when we went to draw this cash, they give us these bundles of money and I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I supposed to do with this? I don't wanna leave because when you leave, everybody knows what you have. So--
01:18:21JONES: It strikes me as being a very uncomfortable situation.
01:18:27AASEN: Very much so. Very much so. And I signed for all of it. I'm accountable for every penny of that money. And that was my first experience, so--
01:18:44JONES: And when you leave there it's just you and this other soldier.
01:18:49AASEN: Correct.
01:18:50JONES: And everybody knows that you're leaving with a lot of money and it's-- I take it both of you had sidearms, but did you have other weapons in addition to the sidearms?
01:19:09AASEN: Yes, we had our M16 rifles and our pistols, our sidearm, our M9s.
01:19:26JONES: Did you get out safely with the money?
01:19:28AASEN: We did. We did and we got back. And then once you're back, it's like, okay, now what do I do with this money? Because I'm not just going to put it in my bag unsecure.
01:19:47JONES: Okay, so what did you do with the money?
01:19:49AASEN: We did end up getting a safe and storing it in a safe.
01:20:10JONES: And everybody in your unit knows that you've come back with a lot of money as well.
01:20:17AASEN: Right. Right.
01:20:22JONES: I watched a movie recently where this was the storyline and it did not end well.
01:20:31AASEN: Luckily, it ends well for me.
01:20:34JONES: There was-- it ended safely for you.
01:20:39AASEN: Correct, and that was just one of many trips. That was my first experience.
01:20:47JONES: Okay, so you had to repeat this several times.
01:20:50AASEN: Several times throughout the duration of our time there because I was the pay agent and so on-- I think it was Fridays was the day where we would pay the locals and it's very hot by now, I mean, the temperature there, it's in the hundreds. You have all your gear on. It's not like you're sitting in an air conditioned room. So, I have-- I'm ready to start paying them and my fellow team members are helping me. And initially the local Iraqis would not take the money from me. They wanted me to give it to my male counterpart and they would take it from him. I was cranky. I'm hot and I'm tired. So, I said, "no, you take it from me or you move on, no pay." So they eventually did.
01:22:29JONES: What an experience.
01:22:34AASEN: It's a much different and I-- it's safe to say it's a much different world. It's-- there are so many differences, cultural, many cultural differences over there compared to here. And when you leave the States, you-- at least me, I tend to assume that I lead a fairly normal life and everyone else leads a life similar. But that's clearly not the case at all. Unfortunate piece is that the value on human life there is nil. It's just-- it's sad. There is very, very little value on human life there. And that was when I was there. That was '04 to '05. And it really-- it really sad because if you had local-- locals coming in to do work for you, you would have to go to the main gate to pick up your workers, your locals. And a very thankless but necessary job are the soldiers who had to work that main gate. And some of them were so young. I'm not-- I'm not like, a young teenager kid or in my early twenties at this point, obviously, but some of them were still young and they were forced to make split decisions with women and children being sent to the front gate that were wired with explosives or vehicles trying to come in that should not. So again, I was fortunate I wasn't on that particular rotation.
01:24:55JONES: I know you weren't there, but did you have incidents where there were suicide bombers?
01:25:06AASEN: They didn't get on base, but we were mortared quite a bit. We were bombed and mortared quite a bit. And they usually would be coming in series of three. And then that was generally the pattern. So, you know, if we were getting mortared, you would get to the bunker and it could-- it typically was early in the morning, but I mean, there would be times throughout the day, but it mostly was earlier in the morning or at night, because that's when it was cooler, that we would get mortared. And, um, so, you know, you would go to the bunker. Yeah, everybody's going to their bunker by their living quarters and, um-- We were fortunate, our team was. We didn't lose anybody, but not everybody was as fortunate. There was a unit that was living next to us. The series of three came in and they thought, okay, three, we're all safe. And it was their first sergeant and platoon leader who stepped outside to take accountability and they-- there was another one that came in and they got blown up and there's pieces and parts of soldiers on other soldiers. So, then, you know, after that, I'm the only female. They had some females. So, you know, we were in our, like, they called ablution units. Those are shower, toilet, sink type trailer. And so, yeah, help clean up some of the females. They had pieces and parts of other soldiers on them, blood, and so that's an experience. And I was fortunate that it wasn't-- And it wasn't on me, but And some of those soldiers were so young. I didn't consider myself to be that young when I was there.
01:28:00JONES: After these bombings and mortars incidents occurred, presumably you are talking at some point with your husband and kids. What did you tell them?
01:28:20AASEN: I didn't because there's nothing they can do about it and he didn't need anything more to worry about. I was going to be there for the duration, so no, I didn't tell him anything about that.
01:28:50JONES: Did your husband know what was going on even if he didn't say anything?
01:28:55AASEN: Um, he may have. A number of the-- like, the spouses would talk to each other the spouses from the members on our team they would communicate with each other and some would share but you know, we had among ourselves asked that you not share all the details because the only thing they can do is worry. And that isn't going to do anybody any good.
01:29:50JONES: Once again, I'm gonna bring up the fact that this was so unusual in that it usually is the male that is put in harm's way. Here that is not the case.
01:30:07AASEN: No. But we-- I am fortunate from the standpoint that we understand each other's role. It just-- even though we understand each other's role, each other's work, you know, certainly it was not easy for him to stay back and me to go.
01:30:38JONES: Okay. So when you were not being bombed, you were expected to do this infrastructure work.
01:30:55AASEN: Correct.
01:30:56JONES: How did-- tell us about that.
01:31:00AASEN: So with that work, what was happening is there were contractors, we called them TCNs, Third Country Contractors, Third World Country. So there were contractors there from Turkey and from South Africa. And so they had their little compound on the FOB. And what they would do is they would do the work to set trailers, their living quarters. They were the living quarters, so a trailer essentially is maybe a little bit bigger than a semi-trailer. And it's divided into three sections, three rooms. So, what one of our missions was to QA these trailers to make sure that the electrical was correct because of the dynamics, some of the electrical was wired backward. So that was something we would check for. Um, does the ECU, environmental control unit, does that work? Do the windows have blinds on them? Does the door lock? Basic things like that. We would QC those living quarters. And if they-- we had like a checklist. So if they passed, then we would accept them on behalf of the government. So then the contractor would eventually be paid. And then we would also, by our acceptance, that would be the way people knew they were safe for soldiers to move into them.
01:33:11JONES: And in addition to this infrastructure work, were you still being the pay agent?
01:33:17AASEN: Yes.
01:33:18JONES: That's still ongoing?
01:33:19AASEN: Yes.
01:33:20JONES: Um, did any of that money ever turn up missing?
01:33:28AASEN: No, I was very careful. No, none of my money ever turned up missing. I had receipts. I kept it secure. So, no, I was good.
01:33:49JONES: It strikes me that that was good, that you had the accounting background.
01:33:55AASEN: Well, that was one of the reasons why the colonel asked me to be the pay agent. And then each--
01:34:11JONES: To use-- it strikes me that that's the 5% that you see on the bottom of a job description that says, quote, other duties as assigned, end quote.
01:34:24AASEN: Yes. [Laughs] Yes, all other duties as assigned, correct. So throughout our time, we would go to different bases like, I went to Balad to draw money and based on our contracts that we had, some of our funds, some of payment draws were bigger than usual. So I think I'm trying to remember at most if I drew 150,000 at one time. But by that time, I was experienced and I brought appropriate--
01:35:22JONES: Security.
01:35:23AASEN: Yes, and security.
01:35:27JONES: For the hundred and fifty thousand situation, how much-- how many soldiers did you have with you?
01:35:33AASEN: There were two of us.
01:35:35JONES: Okay. So, you and just one other person?
01:35:39AASEN: Correct.
01:35:43JONES: Did the locals come to finally accept getting their money from you?
01:35:49AASEN: They had to, or they weren't getting paid. There was no way I was going to give it to my male counterpart. And yeah, there was no away. I'm like, you take it from me or leave. Be gone.
01:36:05JONES: Did you ever have a situation where one of the locals simply said, no, I don't need the money?
01:36:14AASEN: Oh, they told me no, but then I said, "go." I said, "no money." And they all were there because they wanted the money.
01:36:25JONES: So, were you the pay agent for the duration of your year there?
01:36:32AASEN: Correct.
01:36:49JONES: It strikes me that out of all of the things that you did, that part of your job was the most dangerous.
01:37:00AASEN: That is crazy.
01:37:02JONES: To your overall wellbeing. And again, it's-- again, it's just such a small little sliver of what you were supposed to be doing. But it's-- I've seen a number of movies and TV shows dealing with officers who were pay agents. And in many times, it does not end out-- turn out well.
01:37:34AASEN: Right. Right. Well, I was fortunate because my guard, we were-- we were more like siblings than anything. So we trusted each other very much. And most of our team, we were-- we trusted each other. Extremely. We were a small team, so we had to.
01:38:03JONES: Now, when you talk about your team, were these people that were ultimately based in-- were these Wisconsin-based people?
01:38:15AASEN: Um, around Wisconsin. A couple of them were from Illinois. Actually--
01:38:26JONES: But they were part of your unit?
01:38:28AASEN: Correct.
01:38:29JONES: So you went back with them. You had experience with these people even before you got deployed.
01:38:35AASEN: Correct.
01:38:37JONES: It's just that prior to being deployed, you didn't say to yourself, I need to depend on these people for my life. Whereas when you got over there, you had to say that on occasion.
01:38:54AASEN: I think it was kind of an unsaid expectation, is what I would say. And you go through training prior to arriving there overseas. And then you start having some real experiences, which really hits home.
01:39:28JONES: So these were-- these were all people that you went through training at Fort Leonard Wood with.
01:39:32AASEN: Correct.
01:39:34JONES: Before you were shipped over to Iraq.
01:39:37AASEN: Correct. Correct. So, yeah, it's-- It was just the small team of us. So you depend on each other. And you're what each other has for family. And yes, you-- when we arrived, you make new friends, if you will, because you have people living next to you and-- and you know, you think about there are people who live their whole life next to a neighbor and they don't even know their neighbor and you go to training with these people or your fellow soldiers for maybe a week or two and you're best friends for life. And you go through experiences like this, and it's just an unbreakable bond that you share, whether you like it or not, and the camaraderie and--
01:40:54JONES: Is it fair to say that you became a type of band of brothers?
01:40:58AASEN: That is fair, yes, that is fair.
01:41:04JONES: Because of this very unique experience that civilians have a tough time comprehending.
01:41:14AASEN: Correct. And it is-- you hit the nail on the head. Unless you've actually experienced something like that, it's hard to describe. It's hard, at least for me, it's hard to put that into words. You know, you can, like, when we were QA/QC-ing the, you know, trailers, you know, you're going through these trailers, and you're working through them as quickly as possible because so-- you know, military soldiers, they're waiting to move in to these trailers because they have no place to live. So you're trying to work through them as quickly as possible, making sure they're safe. And you get through them. And I remember one specific time, we did a whole block and we worked hard and early and we cleared them all for people to move into them, for soldiers to move in, and early that morning, they were mortared and they were all blown up. [Laughs] I don't wanna go-- ugh. So, but--
01:42:33JONES: How many trailers were destroyed? Do you remember?
01:42:36AASEN: Um, I think like, four or five. And depending on your rank, sometimes if you're junior ranked, there were two soldiers per room.
01:43:11JONES: Is there anything about your deployment that we have not covered that you would like to talk about?
01:43:23AASEN: You know, the biggest thing that struck me, and again, I was older when I deployed, was some of the younger soldiers who didn't have a tremendous amount of experience before going there. They find themselves there in some very difficult roles and difficult jobs. For me, I always was an early riser, because with those ablution units, and they were the shower, the toilet, the sink; if we had water, we didn't always have water, so if we didn't have water, they were closed. All of our water was trucked in, so if the supply lines didn't get through, then we didn't have water, and then you just didn't have a shower, you didn't have a flushable toilet or a sink, you just had a porta-john. So there were plenty of times where we didn't have water. And nonetheless, if there was going to be water, it was going to be early in the morning. And I remember taking my stuff, going, I'm gonna get a shower. And there was a young girl, and I say girl, it probably is the wrong term, but she was younger. She had a baby two months before she deployed. And she was going to-- she had her weapon with her. And I walk in and these shower, these ablution units, they're not the greatest, you know, sometimes there's standing water, et cetera. They are not the greatest, but given the circumstances, it's great. That girl was so distraught because her husband as leaving her and taking the baby and I remember thinking to myself, oh my goodness, she is going to shoot herself or shoot myself. But luckily she didn't. I was able to talk to her. So, it was a dire situation and I was about to talk her and get her weapon and she was able to get help. And that's some things that I think not everybody truly can conceptualize is that, you know, you think about people deploying, and yes, a lot of Guard, Reserve, you know, people can say what they want about them, but Guard and Reserve, they have tough jobs. They have to be qualified to the same level as active duty. They don't always have the same support system maybe that active duty does and there's a lot that they have to manage outside of just their work and this particular person, she happened to be a National Guard person. I'm not even sure where she was from but some of the soldiers really go through a lot of challenging, tough things that others may not even think about as being a big deal.
01:47:39JONES: When you were telling that anecdote, I happened to just kind of run some numbers and I see that when you deployed, you were in your late 30s at this point and you're dealing with soldiers that in many instances are approximately 20 years old.
01:48:05AASEN: Right.
01:48:07JONES: And as you just indicated with that anecdote, drama is unfolding constantly in the personal lives that the soldiers have, just like with that young mother. You just know that because of the situation she faced that she had many other things on her mind other than her safety and the task that she was supposed to be dealing with at that point in time.
01:48:55AASEN: And that is the crazy reality.
01:49:12JONES: Well, one of the points of this interview is to record that the people who see this portion of the interview will hopefully have much more empathy than they once did over what life was like for people who were snatched out of their life back here in the States for deployment into a hot zone.
01:49:49AASEN: Correct.
01:49:54JONES: Anything else about your deployment that you want to cover?
01:50:01AASEN: Um, but that's-- that's about-- that's about it. I mean, eventually we did end up acquiring vehicles and I took a trip to Arifjan, that's in Doha, to sign for one of the vehicles because you had to sign with them. So I took the trip there and ironically, yup, I was able to get it on a convoy coming back and by the time we left, we all had vehicles and we were able to get around and we didn't have to walk everywhere, which-- that was wonderful.
01:50:50JONES: Imagine it was. When you went and got that vehicle, were you traveling with other soldiers?
01:51:02AASEN: Yes, I would always go on convoy and over a period of time I knew who I wanted to go on convoy with because there were teams that ran convoys as security. So I knew over a period of time which ones I preferred to go on if I wasn't flying. If you fly via chopper, that's a whole 'nother level of dynamic because for us, we would only take the choppers in the middle of the night. And then wherever you're going, you need to somehow arrange for somebody to pick you up. But it's very hard to arrange for someone to pick up because we didn't always have communication where we were.
01:51:59JONES: Pivoting back to when you traveled in convoys, were you the only woman in the convoy?
01:52:07AASEN: Um, sometimes yes. Sometimes we would take like, small arms fire, and the first time I didn't realize what that was, but you're in an uparmored vehicle and you hear this ting ting ting. That's what that is. So you initially arrive in country and for me anyways, I was very naive to a number of those pieces, but you quickly learn.
01:52:43JONES: How often did that happen where you took a small arms fire in the convoy?
01:52:50AASEN: Well, it was periodic. It wasn't every time. And the beauty is that as long as the convoy kept moving, it wasn't-- It wasn't as alarming. If the convoy for whatever reason got stopped, that was alarming. Because then you feel like you're sitting duck and there's just heightened anxiousness from-- I don't know if anxiousness is the right word, but a sense of heightenedness from everybody on that convoy, because once you're stopped, that's when bad things can happen. But I was always fortunate.
01:53:41JONES: It strikes me that the people who were shooting at you with small arms could have easily had something bigger than that.
01:53:56AASEN: They could have. And my response to that, and this is what I told my mother when I left, which she found no comfort in, I shared with her that when it's your time, it's your time. It really doesn't matter where you're at. She didn't find a lot of comfort in that. [Laughs] But from my standpoint, that's how I dealt with a number of those pieces. Because I think back to some of those pieces, 24 hours I was in that same spot and then it gets blown up. It wasn't my time. Small arms instead of something more. It wasn't my time.
01:54:45JONES: It's now 20 years after these incidents, but I'm wondering, have you ever told, say, your parents these stories about what you went through? Does your husband know?
01:55:05AASEN: Um, he may know some of them. And he deployed himself, so I think he has a good idea.
01:55:22JONES: Now, we'll get to this, and I know that your sons are in the military, but do they know what you went through 20 years ago?
01:55:32AASEN: I'm not 100% certain if they do. The one son, he deployed, and the other-- the other son, he deployed stateside for riot control. So I guess we really don't so much talk about it.
01:55:55JONES: I understand. Okay, so your deployment comes to an end and is it-- were you over there for one calendar year?
01:56:09AASEN: We actually ended up being there for 13 months and the way that happened is we got there the beginning of February of 2004. Like, the very beginning. And at that time, they just had to you out of country by the end of the month. So, yes, it's go home time. And we are sitting on an aircraft and it's almost midnight and they don't have enough seats so they're looking for people to get off and we all raised our hand. It's like, we'll get off, because we would have got $1,000 more. They had to pay you more if they didn't get you out of country. But it wasn't quite such a slam dunk because the first general officer had to write a letter stating why they couldn't get you out of country. So, they got people off and they said, no, you you you are not getting off and this aircraft will be in the air before midnight. And I'm like-- [laughs] ugh!
01:57:29JONES: Um, after you returned to Wisconsin, how long was it until you resumed, say, employment in the accounting field? Was it literally right away or was this months?
01:57:59AASEN: Yeah, I took a month off. I took four weeks off.
01:58:17JONES: And in hindsight, was that long enough?
01:58:22AASEN: I think so.
01:58:34JONES: It's now 20 years later, do you feel you have, in layman's terms, any PTSD from the experience in Iraq?
01:58:50AASEN: I believe so. I would say definitely for other pieces that I'm not gonna discuss.
01:59:01JONES: Understood. [Pause] Okay, so, it's now 2005, life returns to the way it was prior to your deployment? Do you go back to the accounting job that you previously had?
01:59:42AASEN: I do. I go back to the accounting job. I do end up going to-- I think it was around 2006, 2007. 2007, I went to the Sergeant's Major Academy.
02:00:18JONES: Another training school?
02:00:21AASEN: Yes. Prior to that, with the Sergeant's Major Academy, that is a two-part course in that you have a year to complete your online or distance learning. And there are several different modules you have to complete. You have to take tests, a number of those pieces. And, um, you have a year, I believe, a year to do it, but I don't like things hanging over my head. So, I worked really hard, got through it, and I went to the two week onsite phase that summer. And that was in Texas. Fort Bliss, Texas.
02:01:28JONES: And you got through the course.
02:01:30AASEN: I did very well there. I even-- I got a 300 on my Army Physical Fitness Test, my APFT, so I maxed it, which that was a big accomplishment. And as a result, plus the educational piece of it, I did very well. So, I did get an exceeded course standard.
02:02:00JONES: And then afterwards, did you get promoted?
02:02:06AASEN: I did.
02:02:07JONES: To Sergeant Major?
02:02:08AASEN: Correct.
02:02:10JONES: And that was what ranking? An E-9?
02:02:14AASEN: Correct. And that was in 2007. And that's when I moved to Darien, Illinois, right outside of Chicago. At the 416th Theater Engineer Command.
02:02:53JONES: And you said that was the 416th Theater Engineering Command?
02:02:58AASEN: Correct.
02:03:12JONES: And how long were you with that unit?
02:03:19AASEN: I was there until 2013.
02:03:28JONES: Okey-doke, and then what happened in 2013?
02:03:32AASEN: 2013, I moved to the 728th-- the 728th Construction Management Team, and that was at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
02:03:49JONES: Was that the 322nd?
02:03:54AASEN: Uh, 3--
02:03:56JONES: Or, excuse me, 372nd.
02:03:58AASEN: 372nd. Yes.
02:04:11JONES: And how long are you with the 372nd Engineering Brigade?
02:04:17AASEN: I stayed with them until I retired in 2016.
02:04:29JONES: And I remember the significance of that number because it happens to be 30 years after you first entered the military.
02:04:40AASEN: Correct.
02:04:45JONES: It's quite an accomplishment.
02:04:47AASEN: Thank you.
02:04:54JONES: And then did you retire as an E-9?
02:04:57AASEN: Yes. And there was a period of time before I retired where both of my sons, my husband and myself, we were all serving at the same time.
02:05:20JONES: Tell us about that. What was the time frame involved?
02:05:25AASEN: Oh gosh, um-- I'd have to do some math. Let's see--
02:05:35JONES: Well, I take it this would have been the boys were born in--
02:05:41AASEN: '96 and '98, and they joined--
02:05:45JONES: So it'd be 20 years later, approximately. So, it would have been about '18, 2018 or so.
02:05:54AASEN: Yup. They both joined when they were 17.
02:06:06JONES: Okay, and when you were all in the military together, or serving at the same time, both you and your husband were in the Guard?
02:06:20AASEN: I was in the Reserve, my husband and both boys were in the National Guard. So, yeah, the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
02:06:43JONES: Everyone's Army, huh?
02:06:45AASEN: Everyone's Army. Go Army!
02:06:49JONES: Quite the family tradition.
02:06:51AASEN: Yes.
02:06:52JONES: I have to tell you that when I read that fact, I was so overwhelmed by that because it is so unusual in that I think the statistic is about 5% of Americans serve in the military now. And yet your family at one point had 100% participation.
02:07:24AASEN: Correct.
02:07:25JONES: I'm just, that's just mind boggling.
02:07:29AASEN: And we didn't force them or we-- that was entirely their decision, whatever they chose to do, and they both wanted to enlist.
02:07:45JONES: So are they still in the Guard?
02:07:48AASEN: They have both gotten out.
02:07:59JONES: Okay. What about your husband? Is he still in the Guard?
02:08:01AASEN: No, he's retired too.
02:08:16JONES: When you retired from the service in 2016, were you still working in accounting?
02:08:29AASEN: Correct. I'm still working in accounting.
02:08:47JONES: And is retirement in the foreseeable future?
02:08:53AASEN: I'm crossing my fingers for two and a half years when I turn 60.
02:09:13JONES: Well, I know you've heard this from many other people, but it's great [Aasen laughs] when it does happen.
02:09:24AASEN: Yeah, yeah, that's what I keep hearing.
02:09:30JONES: Um, anything else that we have not covered that you would like to talk about?
02:09:39AASEN: Boy, I think that's-- I think that's it.
02:09:46JONES: Okay, and with that, Cindi, I will say a couple things. Number one, thank you for your 30 years of service to our country where you wore the uniform. Thank you in particular for your year that you spent in Iraq. And also, I want to thank you for agreeing to do this interview. So with that, this interview is concluded.
02:10:29AASEN: Thank you. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant because I'm like, I don't-- I wasn't regular Army. I, you know, I don't have as illustrious of a career as others. But I'm like, I did make it to E-9.
02:10:53JONES: Yeah. Um, Cindi, what I'm going to do is I'm going to press a button that stops the recording but I still want to talk to you a little bit, so let me just press the button. And with that, this interview is concluded.
