Oral History Interview with Abby P. Siakpere

00:00:00BONANO: Today is Tuesday, May 26th, 2026. This is an interview with Abby Siakpere who served in the United States Army National Guard from July 2003 to October 2017. This interview is being conducted by Kristen Bonano at the veteran's home in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Program. No one else is present in the interview room. So, tell me, Abby, where'd you grow up?

00:00:25SIAKPERE: I grew up in Hanover Park, Illinois. It's a suburb right outside of Chicago.

00:00:30BONANO: And what did your family do?

00:00:32SIAKPERE: So my parents, my mom was in banking. And my dad was a supervisor at a plant and then started his own taxi cab business.

00:00:45BONANO: Okay. And where did you go to school?

00:00:48SIAKPERE: I went to school at-- So, in Hanover Park, there was elementary school, Greenbrook, and then Springwood Middle School, and then Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois.

00:01:02BONANO: All right, and what initially made you want to join the military?

00:01:06SIAKPERE: So, I have a deep family history of military. Both my grandparents were in the Navy and my grandma was one of my biggest inspirations in my life and so she was one of the first female Navy veterans serving in World War II and my grandfather was a pilot and so just growing up with that history. I was just very proud of them and wanted to make them proud. And then I'd always been athletic, did marching band in high school, and we did really well. After high school, tried college for a little bit and didn't really work out at that time. And then September 11th happened and I wanted to-- I knew that I needed to do something to help. And so I joined the National Guard in order to try to help the community, help my country.

00:02:24BONANO: Okay, did you have any stories growing up from your grandparents serving in the Navy, especially your grandmother?

00:02:32SIAKPERE: She didn't talk about it a lot. I know she talked a little bit about her and her friends out in San Francisco in California. But she didn't really talk about her service a lot. There was a lot of pictures and being one of the first females like, she was in the newspaper and there's a picture of her cracking a bottle on the side of a ship. And, I don't know, she was just an incredible woman.

00:03:03BONANO: Thanks for sharing that. What did your family say about you joining the military?

00:03:10SIAKPERE: My mom was proud. She-- you know, it was my mom's side of the family that had served. I joined the Army, even though they were in the Navy, just because I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted to follow in their footsteps, but kind of in a different way. And my dad, he's originally from Nigeria, and so he was very, very proud because women don't serve in the military in Nigeria. So, um, they-- They-- I wouldn't say hesitant at first, just because it's your child and they're going into the military and then after everything that had happened after September 11th, but just encouraged my service.

00:04:15BONANO: All right. Um, real quick, when did you-- what year did you graduate high school?

00:04:19SIAKPERE: Uh, 1999.

00:04:20BONANO: Oh, okay. So there was a few years before you decided to join.

00:04:23SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:04:23BONANO: What were you doing in between?

00:04:24SIAKPERE: So I went to UW-Stout for a few years originally in multimedia design because I had I guess an artistic background and thought that that's what I wanted to do and so I went there for a few years and then I ended up getting sick and didn't end up finishing at Stout.

00:04:52BONANO: Okay. So, you join in July 2003, but you don't make it to basic training until May 2004, correct?

00:05:02SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:05:02BONANO: So what were you doing in the meantime?

00:05:04SIAKPERE: So, they had a program, and I think it was called RSP, in the National Guard, you join and you go to MEPS and you sign the contract. And then based on when your basic training date is, you attend drill at your unit that you're going to be stationed at after basic training and AIT. And so my unit was based in Crestwood, Illinois. And so every month until I went to basic, you-- you attend drill with your unit until you go to basic training.

00:05:36BONANO: Okay, so, what unit were you drilling with before you went to Basic?

00:05:40SIAKPERE: The 133rd Signal.

00:05:42BONANO: Okay. All right, so you went to basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

00:05:48SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:05:49BONANO: How'd you get there?

00:05:55SIAKPERE: That's a good question. Traveled by plane. And it's a little bit fuzzy, but I just remember going to MEPS and you stay overnight at MEPS, which is the Military Entrance Processing Center Station, and then you kind of, everyone who is at MEPS at that time gets sectioned off into where they're going to go, and so they travel by plane.

00:06:27BONANO: Okay. What do you remember about your arrival at basic training?

00:06:32SIAKPERE: It was very chaotic, very chaotic. I remember you have all your bags and you don't know what to expect, and you're on a bus and everybody is silent because nobody knows each other and you don't what you're getting into. You know, it's like a blank school bus. So you're just like riding and it's super bumpy. And then you stop and the door opens and you see all-- like, a line of drill sergeants just standing there. And you know, as a recruit, not knowing anything, like, it's terrifying, you know. So then you start to get off the bus and they're running towards you and they come up on the bus and they were just yelling. And, "get off the bus, get off the bus!" And so you grab everything you can as fast as you can and you, you know, you do what they say because it's just super overwhelming. But you know, they-- that was the intent, you know, to kind of break you in and say, okay, you're here. This is what we're gonna do. Yeah. [Laughs]

00:07:42BONANO: What were some of the experiences that you remember from basic? Just in general.

00:07:47SIAKPERE: Um, I-- as much as it sounds weird, I enjoyed basic. I didn't know what to expect. There was a lot of memorization, a lot of just routine, repetitive tasks. A lot of a drill sergeant yelling in your face all the time, but you kind of learn to block it out. You know, a lot of push-ups, a lot sit-ups. No matter what you do, you know, nothing is quite good enough because you know, they're-- they're trying to train you to become a soldier. Uh-- But, you know, you only have seven minutes to eat because they have to get through, you know, a lot people in a short amount of time so you don't ever taste your food, you know. A lot of physical activity. That's where I realized that I liked to run at the time, and so they had like, different running groups, A, B, and C, and you can, based on your speed or your experience level, you could run with each group, and I excelled at basic training and I, you know, there was-- amongst all the chaos, there was some good times in there too.

00:09:24BONANO: Okay. You mentioned you got there and there was a bunch of quiet people. What was it like being exposed to people from around the country?

00:09:32SIAKPERE: Oh, it was awesome. It was really nice to just connect with different people and hear other people's stories. And I was from a small suburb in Chicago. And so just being around other people that grew up in different backgrounds other than, you know, what I was used to, it was great. Awesome.

00:10:03BONANO: Any significant people you served with during basic training that you remember the most?

00:10:08SIAKPERE: Yeah, there was like a group that-- so we had a battle buddy, so there was somebody that was always kind of assigned to you that you had to go everywhere with, and my battle buddy was Semelfort, because it was alphabetical, and her family was from Haiti, and so like, we connected instantly, just being able to talk and, you know, our-- you know, my dad from Nigeria and her family was from Haiti and, you know, we had similarities there and then, you know, we were kind of built similarly too, you know, we're both kind of short and so, you know, connecting with, oh, you know, all the short girls, you know, I think it-- yeah, it was-- it was nice to have that kind of friend to lean on. And then, you know, there was two other females, and there was Mitchell and Broadway, and they, you know, we all kind of grouped together and formed just a bond. And, um-- I remember Mitchell was from Milwaukee actually, and she-- up until a few years ago, we still talked. Because when you go through something like that, you really don't, you know, you don't ever forget it, and then you form kind of a special bond with those who experienced it with you.

00:11:48BONANO: Right. Can you spell your friend from Haiti's name? Semelfort?

00:11:52SIAKPERE: Yes. S-E-M-E-L-F-O-R-T.

00:11:58BONANO: Okay. Sounds good. Was your family there for your graduation?

00:12:04SIAKPERE: They were.

00:12:04BONANO: So they traveled out?

00:12:05SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:12:06BONANO: What was that like?

00:12:06SIAKPERE: It was great. You miss your family a lot because it was nine weeks and you're in a bubble. And so being able to just, one, interact with the outside world because you were stuck on post, on base. All you see is the barracks and then the training, wherever the training was. And then to see them and see the transformation from when you started and where you are now and having your family see that, that was kind of neat because the males, they shave your head and do that. But for the females it was a little different because I have thick hair and I wanted to shave my head because it was South Carolina and it was May. But they wouldn't let me, because I had to maintain a female appearance. And so my hair just grew, and by the end, it was super thick. And so they hadn't seen me. I looked a lot different. And then, you know, I had glasses at the time, but they called them BCGs, it was called birth control glasses, and they're just super, super thick glasses that everybody wears. And they give you two pairs, and they are like, indestructible. So people tried to break them and they couldn't because they're like, these are ugly, but you needed them. And then it has like, the strap, you know, on the back so it doesn't fall off your head. And so having your family see you like that, you know? And they're, like, okay, yeah, it's different, but different in a good way. Because you're, I guess, more polished and you, um, more formal and you know, you're in your, at the time, dress greens, and you have, you know, your marksmanship badges so, you know, you kind of get to show them stuff that you've done and you know, you get to march, you know, your platoon marches with the guidon and I was the guidon bearer so the guidon's a flag and I got to march, you know, in front of my platoon and they got to see that and I ended up being like, the soldier of the cycle, which is I guess like, the top soldier of that iteration. So, that's why I got to hold the flag and, you know, my family kind of seeing that and seeing where I was and where I am now, that was kind of neat.

00:14:48BONANO: Yeah. So you mentioned you were the outstanding soldier of the cycle for your basic training class. Were you aiming to do that or that just happened?

00:14:57SIAKPERE: It just happened. I said I liked basic probably more than I should have and I think because of my size, you know, they didn't expect me to do as well as I did and so then it was kind of like, oh, okay, you know, let me show you what I can do. So, yeah, that was kind of neat.

00:15:31BONANO: All right. So, in June 2004, you graduated basic training, and then you go on to AIT July 2004 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. So, how did you get there?

00:15:44SIAKPERE: We got there by bus, and I remember it was getting on one blank school bus, traveling in silence again because then you're taken away from your friends because everybody goes to different training posts. And then getting to Georgia and it was kind of the same thing where the drill sergeants are waiting at the end or you know, when you get off, you know, chaotic, grab your bag, because there were drill sergeants at that point of training too that were all in charge of you and you know, trying to get you to where you needed to go and at that point, I remember, so like the second week before I graduated basic training, I didn't know at the time, but my legs started to hurt a lot, but I just didn't tell anybody because I didn't want to be held back in basic training. So, when I got off the bus at Fort Gordon, I was like, okay, I need to have this looked at, because at that point I graduated basic and I wouldn't be held back. And so I got of the bus and I told the drill sergeant, "I think I need to get my leg looked at." And he was like, "What are you talking about?" And I was like, ah, I think there's something-- I think I need to have it looked at. He's like, "okay." So he had another, actually, two soldiers escort me to the hospital or whatever. And I ended up having like, a stress fracture in my leg. And had to be on crutches. So that was like my first day of AIT. I showed up and had a stress fracture in my leg and so showed up on crutches.

00:17:38BONANO: How long were you in crutches for?

00:17:41SIAKPERE: Um, so I want to say a few months, um, because it just wasn't healing but like, at that point, obviously you want to train and everything's very physical. And so there was some point that, you know, I wanted to kind of speed up the healing process but the only way to do that is to not use it. So I-- yeah, I want to say like a few months.

00:18:13BONANO: So, that affected how long AIT went for you? Did you have to recover first?

00:18:17SIAKPERE: Uh, no, no. I kept training through AIT. Through that.

00:18:21BONANO: Okay, so what did you get trained in?

00:18:23SIAKPERE: So it was radio repair, radio and COMSEC repair, and basically every-- I'm not sure if anybody's familiar with the SINCGARS radios, they're a single channel. The big green radios that you usually see in like Humvees or in like, communication stations. They transmit and receive basically radio signals and so we were trained in repairing those and then COMSEC is like the communication security, so all the security keys and stuff. We were in charge of like, loading those and you know, changing those if those needed to be changed, and there was different types of radios that we learned throughout that period and so that's-- the school in its entirety was six months long but only because there was a lot that we had to learn about every different type of radio.

00:19:26BONANO: Okay, did you choose this? You chose to study radio repair?

00:19:33SIAKPERE: I did. It was kind of funny because when I was in the recruiter's office, you know, you take your ASVAB and they give you a score. Based on that score, there's a list of jobs that is open to you. And so being in the National Guard, you kind of want to stay close to where your home is, because you don't want to have to travel too far every month to go to drill. And so the 133rd Signal Company was-- or Signal Battalion was close to where I was staying at the time. And he's like, "oh, what are you interested in?" And he was like, "you have these jobs that are available," and one of them, I was like, "oh, I like radio" and so he's like, "oh, here's radio repair" and he's like, "yep, and you qualify for it" and I was like, cool, so then, yep. And I'd always been kind of interested, very good technically with electronics and troubleshooting, so it worked out for the best.

00:20:34BONANO: Okay. What were you thinking in terms of being trained in radio repair? By that I mean, did you think you were going to make a career out of that later or no?

00:20:46SIAKPERE: Actually, I didn't know. I wanted to-- You know, when you go into the military, one of the selling points is that the training that you receive, you can use out in the real world, and I definitely wanted to continue that, and I, you know, had excelled at that. So, yeah, I had hoped that that was something that I'd like to do going forward.

00:21:13BONANO: All right, what were your classes like?

00:21:16SIAKPERE: Um, they were-- they were fun. So there was two shifts. There was like, the AM training shift and then the PM training shift. And so we were called the Swings. So because we were on the PM training shift, so we would get up in the morning, do our PT later than everybody else, then go to breakfast, have like, the morning off, and then go to school around 1, 2:00 PM and then go to school until 9 or 10:00 PM at night. And they split that up just because our class was so big, so it was easier to train if half of us went in the morning and half of one in the afternoon. And it actually worked out because by that time I was older and I was 21 and so if you were a swing and you were 21, you were able to go to the bowling alley on post after class because it was open until like 1 or 2:00 AM. So a couple of us after school would kind of just go to the bowling alley and hang out after class. So that was our shift. Plus then we didn't have to do PT at like 5:00 AM. We got to do PT at like eight, so that was that was nice. [Laughs]

00:22:38BONANO: What was the discipline like at advanced training compared to basic?

00:22:42SIAKPERE: So the discipline, it was less, but we were still-- drill sergeants were still in charge of us. So it was strict, but not as strict as basic training. We got a little more leeway because our school was so long, we were kind of considered permanent party. So, you know, a lot of the things that we did, you know, we were able to go off post. We were able go to the bowling alley and hang out. We were able to hang out in the barracks on the weekends and not have so many chores or additional duties to do. But we were kind of under a drill sergeant at all times, and they rotated in shifts too. So, I mean, based on whatever time and day you were there, you would get a different drill sergeant based on their shift.

00:23:50BONANO: Okay, would you be retrained in another skill later?

00:23:56SIAKPERE: Later during AIT?

00:23:57BONANO: During AIT or any other time in your career?

00:24:00SIAKPERE: Oh, yes.

00:24:01BONANO: Yes, you would, okay. Is this correct? You were also outstanding soldier of your AIT class?

00:24:07SIAKPERE: I was.

00:24:08BONANO: Okay, tell me what that was like.

00:24:13SIAKPERE: That was kind of unexpected too because just academically I excelled and the drill sergeants-- Now, I wasn't-- I wasn't like, a troublemaker, but they didn't expect it from me, because I wasn't like other soldiers. You know, I was kind of like, spunky, and I didn't like, talk back, but I was witty, and they didn't expect that. So, then, when I-- when they came out with the class list, and they were like, oh, yeah, you're at the top, they were kind of, like, okay, all right, I see you. And I was like--

00:25:01BONANO: So you weren't aiming to graduate with honors, it just happened again?

00:25:04SIAKPERE: Yeah.

00:25:04BONANO: Okay. You began working for the Department of Defense as a civilian technician, is that correct?

00:25:11SIAKPERE: I did.

00:25:12BONANO: That was in, clarify for me, it was in 2004, 2005?

00:25:17SIAKPERE: 2005.

00:25:19BONANO: Okay. So that was your regular day job.

00:25:22SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:25:22BONANO: Okay. What was this job like?

00:25:24SIAKPERE: So, right after AIT, since I was certified in radio repair, there was an opening for a electronics technician that was at the base that was right outside of Brookfield Zoo, North Riverside, Illinois, and my friend Tammy had got offered a job there too and we went to AIT together and so she's like, yeah, you know, apply, you know, it's right in our job field and I was like okay. Um, so went for the interview and got selected and um, basically it was, you know, you wear your uniform every day. You have to be in the National Guard in order to maintain that position. And you're doing basically what we did in AIT, you know, radio repair, you repair night vision goggles. You do inspections on other units within your area. Yeah, and it worked out really nice because we had just graduated AIT and so that training kind of flowed onto my everyday job.

00:26:43BONANO: Great. Do I also have this correct? You had a federal job with the National Guard?

00:26:48SIAKPERE: That's the same.

00:26:49BONANO: It's the same job, okay. So, in January 2005 I have you graduated AIT and then you got your job, you're at the Department of Defense, and you then joined the 133rd Signal Battalion. You were already with them before basic, right?

00:27:05SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:27:06BONANO: Okay, so how many years were you with the 133rd?

00:27:11SIAKPERE: Um, so shortly after I graduated AIT, I ended up transferring to the unit where I worked at, which was the 3625th Maintenance Company. So I want to say around 2005 is when I transferred from 133rd to the Maintenance Company.

00:27:35BONANO: Okay, so I guess I'll go back a little because I didn't get to ask about what it was like with the 133rd in Crestwood, Illinois, correct? What were the working conditions like there?

00:27:46SIAKPERE: It was a basic maintenance shop. I mean, we didn't get to do any repairs or anything because they didn't have-- they did more like, wheeled vehicle maintenance than electronics maintenance. And so that was part of the reason why we transferred is there wasn't, you know, they didn't have the tools. They didn't the facility to support unit level maintenance rather than operator level maintenance, which is basically just putting the radio in the truck and testing it. And getting that job at the DOD, like, we wanted to expound on our maintenance skills and have more access to equipment that we could train on and that we can maintain. And so, I mean, I said, we didn't get to do much radio repair at 133rd, but we did other types of training, like civil disturbance training. You know, basic National Guard specific tasks rather than maintenance specific tasks.

00:29:09BONANO: Okay. Any significant people you remember? You mentioned the Tammy that you got a DOD job with?

00:29:14SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:29:14BONANO: Was Tammy also in the 133rd Signal Battalion?

00:29:17SIAKPERE: She was.

00:29:18BONANO: Okay. Did you move on with her to the next place?

00:29:20SIAKPERE: We did.

00:29:20BONANO: Okay. Interesting. Anything else you wanted to mention about the 133rd Signal Battalion?

00:29:26SIAKPERE: Um, no, like, it was a good start and I got my foot in the door and um, yeah.

00:29:41BONANO: Okay, so you move on to the 3625th Maintenance Company in North Riverside, Illinois. Do you remember what time you got to the 3625th? When in the year you transferred? If you can't remember, you could say early 2005 or mid.

00:30:02SIAKPERE: Yeah. I don't remember.

00:30:05BONANO: Early 2005, maybe?

00:30:06SIAKPERE: Sure.

00:30:07BONANO: And you were just still doing radio COMSEC repair.

00:30:11SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:30:12BONANO: Okay. What was a typical day like with the 3625th?

00:30:16SIAKPERE: Um, I loved the 3625th. It was a maintenance company. So everybody there was maintenance minded. You know, we had electronics repair. We had wheel view-- you know, mechanic repair. We had wreckers, which are like tow trucks. We have armament, which is, you, know, weapons repair. Um, it-- the-- Just being around people that, you know, we all were there to fix something. You know, we were the maintenance company. If you had a problem, you came to us. I said that, I loved that.

00:31:02BONANO: What were the working conditions like there?

00:31:05SIAKPERE: They were good. I mean, it was-- we were in an electronics shop. Obviously being maintenance, there wasn't a lot of females. Electronics was kind of, I guess, secluded because of, you know, we had to maintain security with the radios and the sensitive equipment. But you know, we kind of got to go off and do our own thing because of that. But yeah, they were alright.

00:31:50BONANO: Um, and in your downtime, what did you do for fun?

00:31:54SIAKPERE: Um, you-- We had a motto, it was work hard, play hard. So we-- when we had our downtime, I mean, we went out and we drank a lot.

00:32:12BONANO: And you were still working with the DoD, right?

00:32:14SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:32:14BONANO: How long were you with the DoD?

00:32:22SIAKPERE: So I officially maintained that job until 2013, the end of 2013.

00:32:34BONANO: Okay. Good to know. Any special people you remember from the 3625th?

00:32:41SIAKPERE: Oh, yeah. The guys, like Tammy, she was my best friend. We-- I called her the yin to my yang just because we were so opposite in personalities, but we just kind of clicked. And you know, the guys that I served with, they were, you know, they took care of me and I took care them. Like, I miss them a lot and they will always have a special place in my heart because they're like my family.

00:33:27BONANO: Thanks for sharing that. Any significant experiences you remember when you're with the 3625th?

00:33:35SIAKPERE: So, with the 3625th, we were based out of Chicago and that's when the National Guard units were being sent over to Iraq. And so, we had gotten a notice that we were, um, going to be sent over but didn't know kind of when or where. So when they started sending people from Illinois, they ended up choosing the 3637th out of Springfield, Illinois to go over to Iraq. But they needed more maintenance people to join their unit in order to kind of fulfill the obligation. So they chose a bunch of us out of the 3625th in Chicago, kind of plucked us out of that unit. And then put us into 3637th out of Springfield. So with the 3625th, that's when I got kind of placed into my deployment to Iraq with the 3637th Maintenance Company.

00:34:40BONANO: Okay, right before we get there, did anything happen that was calling for people to be sent to Iraq or was just a regular part of what was going on at the time?

00:34:52SIAKPERE: I think it was just part of what was going on at the time, the fight had kind of ramped up and you know, they needed more soldiers to kind of sustain the fight and so they-- They were-- Illinois, it was Illinois's time to go and they-- They answered the call.

00:35:16BONANO: How did you feel hearing that you were maybe gonna go to Iraq?

00:35:18SIAKPERE: I wanted to. I actually volunteered to go early because like I said, I joined wanting to help my country and this was another way that I could help, especially on like, a larger scale, like big picture. So I was like, you know what, I'm ready, let's do this. You know, it's my time.

00:35:41BONANO: Right, so I have that you're with the 3625th and then you moved for-- to the 3637th Maintenance Company out of Springfield just to deploy. So, you went in June 2007 to Iraq. So you went to Al-Asad Air Force Base, I have down.

00:35:58SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:35:58BONANO: And I also have you were the electronic warfare unit leader.

00:36:03SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:36:04BONANO: Okay. Was that something you got trained in or was that like a position given to you when you deployed?

00:36:08SIAKPERE: No. So, when we deployed, we were told that we were going to do electronics maintenance, which was our job. When we actually got to Al-Asad, they actually had contractors that were doing electronics maintenance. But our section was tasked to do electronic warfare. And so not knowing anything about that, one of the Navy-- It was actually a section in the Navy that was specialized in electronic warfare. They came and they had trained us, and so they trained me, and then I trained my soldiers on the installation, maintenance, repair, and basic checks of these electronic warfare systems. And what that was is basically there's a special radio that's inside of a truck. And when the truck goes on a convoy and is part of a convoy, it emits a signal. And basically, that signal is what keeps the soldiers safe on the road while they're on the convoy. And so, there was devices called radio-controlled improvised explosive devices, RC-IEDs, and what that radio would do was kind of put out almost like a white noise signal that would block any of the RC-IEDs from detonating. So, it almost provided like a protective bubble around those trucks. And so, it was-- [dog starts making noise] It was a lot.

00:37:56BONANO: Do you want to watch your dog? Okay, I'll pause for a second. [Recording cuts] This is segment two of the interview with Abby Siakpere. We were talking about deploying to Iraq and your electronic warfare unit leader training. So, do you want continue where you left off?

00:38:12SIAKPERE: Sure. Um, so, um-- having that responsibility of, uh, protecting soldiers, especially when they're out on the road, uh, what-- like, I took that to heart, you know, um. And they-- at that time I was in charge of that section and so one, I wanted to make sure that my soldiers that served along with me knew the importance of the job that they had, they were proficient in the job they had and that we formed a bond with the people that were using these radios so that one, they could trust that radio was going to protect them and that they knew in the event of, you know, if they didn't think that radio was working correctly, that they could troubleshoot at their level or bring that back to us and we'd be able to either replace that radio or fix that radio in order for another convoy to leave.

00:39:21BONANO: Okay, so you got trained in this before you deployed or it was when you deployed that you--

00:39:27SIAKPERE: It was during our deployment, so it was we arrived in country and then we were trained at that point.

00:39:35BONANO: Okay. How did you get to Iraq?

00:39:37SIAKPERE: Like a giant plane. And I want to say it was a C-17. But I just-- I remember it was huge. And like, the back opened and we kind of all walked in the back and there was just lines of seats. And we all kind of just sat one after another and-- Oh, no, that was us coming home. I'm sorry.

00:40:18BONANO: That's okay.

00:40:20SIAKPERE: So, we-- I think we took a commercial plane actually.

00:40:24BONANO: Okay, yeah. So you flew into Kuwait, I'm assuming?

00:40:28SIAKPERE: Yes.

00:40:29BONANO: Okay. And then when you flew to Kuwait, how did you get into Iraq?

00:40:34SIAKPERE: That's when we took the C-17.

00:40:37BONANO: Okay, cool. What was a typical day like at Al-Asad Air Force Base?

00:40:43SIAKPERE: Um, it was hot. Um, sand everywhere, everywhere. Um, there was actually like, sand storms towards the end of our deployment. I mean, and you would look outside and it was just orange and you couldn't see the hand in front of your face. Um, the base was really nice, like we had a coffee shop, we had like a Subway, we had a Pizza Hut. It wasn't like your local Pizza Hut, I mean, they only had very limited ingredients and it didn't taste exactly the same but I mean, it was, you know, something that was familiar. You know, the currency, instead of like, having like, money, they'd have almost like these cardboard tokens. And that's how you would pay. They had recreational activities. They had a gym you could go to, multiple gyms you could go to. They had movie theater. Everything was kind of, for the most part, within walking distance. We lived in what was called [CHUs??], and they're basically like, little trailers. And they put two soldiers to a trailer. And all these trailers were kind of lined up in rows. And then there was like the bathroom trailer that was at the front of the row. And then all the other trailers were lined up behind it. They separated the males and the females unless you were married. Then you got to room with your significant other. Yeah, it was actually a decent base.

00:42:41BONANO: What was work like on the base?

00:42:44SIAKPERE: Work was long, but only because convoys go out at all hours of the day. It's not really like a set schedule, and you don't find out because of security reasons. You don't find out until right before the convoy is going to leave. So, as a supervisor, I was always on call, and I was always working. But I just-- I wanted to make sure that things were done correctly and that people were safe. And so I tried to schedule my soldiers into shifts so that at least they could get some rest or rotate out so they weren't always on call. But I-- yeah, I was always working.

00:43:43BONANO: I have down that you went to Baghdad for a week for additional training? Correct? What was Baghdad-- Baghdad like at this time?

00:43:51SIAKPERE: So, Baghdad-- Baghdad was intense. I-- I went with Tammy and we were going for additional electronic warfare certification and Baghdad was still getting hit pretty hard with mortars. And that's not something that we were kind of used to at Al-Asad because Al-Asad, it was surrounded. I guess we were a long distance away from where the gates were at Al-Asad, whereas Baghdad, I mean, the gates were very close to us. So even while we were flying in to Baghdad, um, so, Tammy and I, we were on a C-130 and they were having like, an MWR event and actually at the time, the Washington football team, their cheerleaders, were on the plane with us so it was just us and then the cheerleaders of the football team, and we-- Like, it was just kind of awkward because like, we're there for like a mission and we're there for, you know, a war and they were there, you know, for-- to help, you know, to try and lift the spirits of the other soldiers so the mindset was a little different and um-- Yeah, they had asked if they wanted-- if we wanted to take a picture with them. And at that time, you know, we had been up for a really long time and, you know, we're about to, you know, attend some more training. And so we were like, no, you know, that's not something that we're interested in, but thank you. And then as we were coming into Baghdad, the plane did like, a spiral landing. And there were things being shot at us, and we could see it. You know, they were like, what is that? You know, kind of not really knowing what it was, but like, Tammy and I knew what it was and tried not to let it bother us 'cause that's just part of war. But, you know, it always kind of-- you're always kind of like, all right, you know, I'm here and it's happening and I'm seeing it with my own eyes. You know. So, then after we landed, since it was only the two of us, like, we were in a tent and it was a tent that was meant for like 40 to 50 people, but it was only just us. So we kind of had to navigate where to go and where the chow halls were and whatnot on our own. And I remember the first night. The first night that we-- We're getting ready to sleep. There was a mortar that went off pretty close to where we were, and the alarms go off. And we kind of just looked at each other, and we're like, if we die, we die together, you know? That's something that I'll never forget, because when-- we were calm, you know, and like these things were happening and we didn't like, freak out, we were just by ourselves, but we knew that hey, we're in this and we're in this together and we had each other and had each others backs at that moment. And there were a few other mortars and you know, everything ended up to be cleared and it-- like, that feeling will never leave me but I'm grateful that we had each other to lean on.

00:49:20BONANO: Thank you for sharing that. Was that your first experience at that level of threat?

00:49:25SIAKPERE: Ah, yes.

00:49:26BONANO: Yeah. Where were you two staying in Baghdad? You were in that tent by yourselves, where were you exactly? Was it some base or was some section of town that was safe?

00:49:43SIAKPERE: It was a base, but I don't remember the name of the base.

00:49:47BONANO: That's okay. So what was training like?

00:49:53SIAKPERE: Um, the-- the--

00:49:56BONANO: The training you did in Baghdad, yeah.

00:50:00SIAKPERE: It was-- Basically, just classroom instruction. We were getting kind of like an advanced instruction on the new types of radios that were coming out, the new threats that were-- that were being introduced into the, you know, the warfare atmosphere, the different types of testing equipment that we can use that were more precise so we would be able to detect, you know, faults and malfunctions earlier. Yeah, kind of just giving us a bigger picture overview of-- Because the threat landscape, it changes. And the equipment that we were using, they were upgrading all the time, and different software versions, different hardware versions. There was different auxiliary components that you could add to it to kind of enhance the protection. So, we were just getting up to date on all that and getting certified.

00:51:07BONANO: Okay. So you did your week training and then you went back to Al-Asad. I also have down that you did R&R in Kuwait.

00:51:15SIAKPERE: We did.

00:51:15BONANO: So what was that like?

00:51:17SIAKPERE: Um, it was strange because Kuwait was so much more relaxed than Iraq was. I mean, in Iraq, I mean, you're wearing your uniform all the time. Even when you're doing PT, you have to wear your PT uniform. For some strange reason, we still had to wear those PT belts, which is like a neon belt that like, sashed across your body for safety. But Kuwait wasn't like that. You could wear civilian clothes. You could go off post in Kuwait. So we went to some of the bazaars or the shops right outside the gate in Kuwait. You were allowed two alcoholic beverages if you wanted. And you got tickets. And so you could go to the bar and get your two alcoholic beverages. They had different types of food, like I tried calamari for the first time in Kuwait. Yeah, and there was no schedule, so you just, you know, going from a strict regimen to, hey, you're on vacation, it was just a weird change of pace.

00:52:37BONANO: How long was R&R?

00:52:40SIAKPERE: It was only a few days.

00:52:42BONANO: Okay. Um, did you stay in contact with any of your family or friends from back home while you were in Iraq?

00:52:50SIAKPERE: Yeah, I tried to. We did have like, an address. So we would get like care packages. Actually care packages from like people in the community that would like, get together and send the whole unit, you know, stuff that we couldn't get. You know, sometimes, you know, soap, toothbrushes, like for the male's shaving kits. Even like DVDs or, you know, stuff that could help us kind of along with our trip. And so, yeah, I mean, I'd get letters from friends and family. We got care packages, food, stuff from home that they'd try to send us. I mean, it'd get there in pieces, but it would get there, you now. Yeah, so, that was nice.

00:53:50BONANO: All right, you were there for a year?

00:53:53SIAKPERE: Uh, so, we were in country for nine months. And then there was a pre-deployment period and a post-deployment period. So all together the deployment was a year, but we were in country I think for eight or nine months

00:54:17BONANO: So roughly June 2008, you were back in Illinois.

00:54:24SIAKPERE: Actually end of May 2008.

00:54:28BONANO: Okay. How did you get back to Illinois?

00:54:32SIAKPERE: So we did our post-deployment at Fort Hood, Texas. So you fly into Fort Hood to basically go through all your medical records, go through, try to update with all the, you know, things that you experienced over in Iraq. And then after that period in Fort Hood, then they flew us back to Springfield, and then from Springfield, bus from Chicago, took a bus and were bussed back to North Riverside.

00:55:13BONANO: Okay. So, roughly around that time, you rejoined the 3625th Maintenance Company, right?

00:55:20SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:55:20BONANO: And you were there for another couple years?

00:55:23SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:55:24BONANO: So, I have down 2010. Do you remember when you moved out of there?

00:55:32SIAKPERE: Fall, maybe 2010.

00:55:35BONANO: Fall 2010. And were you still working as a radio comsec repairer at this time?

00:55:39SIAKPERE: I was.

00:55:40BONANO: Okay. So--

00:55:42SIAKPERE: I wanted to caveat. Radio comsec repairer and I had moved into a calibration position. Basically I was-- every electronic component has like a baseline and so what calibration, what I did was I took those electronic components and would measure them to make sure that they were still accurate, that they were at their baseline and if they weren't then I would adjust it to that baseline so that it would maintain that accuracy. And so I was doing calibration. I think I moved into that calibration position full-time after my deployment, but I was still under the electronics maintenance kind of umbrella.

00:56:40BONANO: Okay, so was work any different now that you were doing calibration full-time?

00:56:49SIAKPERE: A little bit, only because I-- There was-- I interacted more with Springfield because there was a calibration section down there too. And sometimes the stuff that, you know, I didn't have the equipment to calibrate on my own. I'd have to drive down, either we'd meet in the middle or drive down to Springfield and we'd exchange equipment. So there was more just-- there wasn't so much me being at the office all the time. There was more kind of going out and interacting more with the other units.

00:57:29BONANO: Okay, were you still with Tammy at the time?

00:57:33SIAKPERE: Um, we started out together like at the time and then she ended up getting an active Guard Reserve position at the unit that was like adjacent to where our maintenance shop was. So, she was still like, at North Riverside, and we'd still, you know, talk to each other all the time but she was just in a different building.

00:58:00BONANO: Any other special people you remember from the 3625th? Those guys before, right?

00:58:07SIAKPERE: Yeah.

00:58:09BONANO: So you transfer out of the 3625th around fall 2010, correct?

00:58:14SIAKPERE: Correct.

00:58:15BONANO: And you go to the 108th Sustainment Brigade out of Chicago. What was that like? Why did you move?

00:58:23SIAKPERE: Um, they-- uh, so in order to be promoted, obviously, you have-- they have slots and every unit only has a certain amount of slots, um, so it was about that time in my career for career advancement and, uh you know, the 108th Sustainment had a slot for E-7, um, which a sergeant first class and at the time I was a staff sergeant. So, kind of in order for career progression, I wanted to, you know, try something different and kind of moved to the 108th Sustainment.

00:59:05BONANO: Okay, and you were still doing radio repair and the calibration?

00:59:08SIAKPERE: Yes, I was doing radio repair. Or electronic supervisor, I guess, was the position.

00:59:19BONANO: What was a typical day like with the 108th?

00:59:24SIAKPERE: It wasn't like a maintenance shop like my other unit, so it was just a lot slower and I was more in an advisory role at that point because I wasn't at the unit level. I was at a brigade level, which is like a higher echelon, so I wasn't actually like hands-on with the equipment. I was more of if a unit commander needed advice or you know, I had a question about the type of equipment or what should be done in this situation or the scenario, I would be the person that they'd go to. So I didn't do any hands-on maintenance, which I was used to. I was more in an advisory role at that point. So it was a lot slower.

01:00:19BONANO: What did you do in your downtime?

01:00:24SIAKPERE: I just remember the unit, it was right out-- it was in Chicago, but it was in a park called Humboldt Park. And they had incredible food. So we ate some amazing food there.

01:00:38BONANO: What kind of food?

01:00:39SIAKPERE: So there was jibaritos, which is almost like a banana. And--

01:00:46BONANO: Those Puerto Rican sandwiches?

01:00:48SIAKPERE: Yep, they were just incredible. Incredible. Yeah.

01:00:58BONANO: I've eaten those before. [Laughs]

01:01:00SIAKPERE: Yes. They're delicious.

01:01:01BONANO: Yes. Um, any special people you remember when you were at the 108th?

01:01:15SIAKPERE: Um, I remember there was another female chief and she had worked at the maintenance at North Riverside in the armament position and we had talked to back and forth and she worked her way up through the ranks and then became a chief warrant officer and so she was with the 108th at the time and I don't know, she was just a really big help and, you know, another female soldier that I could lean on that was, you now, had gone through it and if I had questions or I was like, is this supposed to happen, or, you know-- Because I was very technical, I was very by the book, and sometimes you're like, oh, that doesn't look quite right. She was always someone that I could go to as a sounding board. And she was petite like me too. So again, it was like, hey, we did it!

01:02:33BONANO: Do you remember her name?

01:02:34SIAKPERE: Yeah, Chief Warrant Officer Eileen Konopacki.

01:02:37BONANO: Can you spell her last name?

01:02:38SIAKPERE: K-O-N-- K-O-N-O P-A-C-K-I.

01:02:48BONANO: All right.

01:02:49SIAKPERE: And I apologize if I didn't spell it correctly.

01:02:51BONANO: That's okay. It's just helpful to get a sense of what the spelling is. So, in-- I have down in 2010, so maybe soon after you joined, you applied for Warrant Officer selection.

01:03:03SIAKPERE: I did.

01:03:04BONANO: Tell me about that. Why did you wanna do that?

01:03:11SIAKPERE: Kind of career progression. Again, with the 108th, I was just with a lot of those higher ranking people and, you know, I had a lot expertise in the field that I was in and so a lot people were kind of like putting it in my ear like, hey, you'd make a great officer. You know, you could apply a lot of this knowledge into this. And the leadership skills that I had gained through Iraq and through being a platoon sergeant, it would all kind of mesh into one. And I could apply that and become a mentor to other soldiers. And so I looked into warrant officer school. It was something that has always kind of been in the back of my mind because, you know, a warrant officer is an expert in their field. You know, they're the person that you go to. And I always already kind of been that. And so finally like having the official title, I was like, okay, I might as well. So when I started looking into it, you know, based on your job or what you do, obviously, to be an expert, you have to be in that field. So I would have been, you know, the opportunity to become an electronics warrant officer was there but also at that time the opportunity for-- to become a pilot was also presented itself. And so I kind of researched that a little more and the unit where they flew out of was at Midway Airport, which was fairly close to where I was already drilling. Talked to a few pilots in that unit and having the aviation background, you know, in my blood, I was like, I'd wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. I remember my mom had like one of those books that every year, you know, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, you kind of fill out, you know, what's your favorite thing to do, what your favorite color, who your teachers were, you know, who are your friends. And I distinctly remember one of the questions was, what do you want to be when you grow up? And it was pilot. And I was in kindergarten, first grade. Um, so, when that opportunity presented, it was electronics warrant or pilot. I was like, you know, there's no time like the present. And if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. There was an age cap on becoming a pilot, and I was reaching that age cap. And so I'm like, hey, if it is my time, it is time. You know, I'll apply and if I'm not selected, you know I could become electronics warrant and you know, both are things that I'm really passionate about. And so when I had submitted my packet, I had put both down. And actually at the time, electronics warfare warrant officer, that was a new position that was just being introduced as well. So those were the three that I applied for was electronics warrant officer, electronic warfare warrant officer, and helicopter pilot. And I ended up getting selected for helicopter pilot.

01:06:59BONANO: Okay, interesting. So in 2010 you decided to apply. So did you apply to flight school separately or did that come later?

01:07:06SIAKPERE: That came along with the process.

01:07:10BONANO: Okay, so you decided apply to warrant officer selection. One of your options was pilot and they selected you for pilot.

01:07:17SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:07:17BONANO: Okay, sounds good. And I have down you were selected in May 2011.

01:07:23SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:07:24BONANO: Um, what was that like, when you found out you got selected?

01:07:27SIAKPERE: Oh, that was incredible. That was absolutely incredible because I didn't-- not that I doubted myself, but I didn't think I was gonna be selected. And you have to be the best of the best to get that. Because the National Guard, they only have so many slots a year, and it's like, two or three. And based on where you are in the state, if you only have three slots, two of them may be Chinook slots, and then one of them may be Black Hawk. And in Illinois, that's what we had. We had Chinook or Black Hawk. And so, you know, I had to get like, eye surgery because at that time they didn't allow glasses. And I'd had tons of tests done. I remember even having to go down to one of the maintenance shops down in central Illinois and having one of flight surgeons verify that I could touch all the buttons because height-wise, I was right at that level where I almost wasn't tall enough to fly, but I have really long arms, so I was able to touch the buttons and then they had to verify that and sign off on it. Um, I had to go down to Springfield and take a PT test, and you had to score above a certain level at the PT test to even go to the next round. Tons of just face-to-face interviews of what my intentions were and why I wanted to do it. They went through my whole career, kind of like what we're doing now, and asked me questions. I'd have to have letters of recommendation of people that believed in me and that interacted with me throughout the years and knew that I was the best fit. And so, getting that final phone call of yes, you're selected, it was incredible.

01:10:06BONANO: Real quick, you said you had to get eye surgery. Did you get Lasik?

01:10:10SIAKPERE: I did not. I got a procedure called PRK. And for what I remember, it's like they kind of like shave off part of your cornea. And what it does is it helps focus. Helps it focus a little bit better.

01:10:31BONANO: Okay. So, you were next a student at Warrant Officer Candidate School, correct?

01:10:38SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:10:39BONANO: That was at Fort Rucker, Alabama?

01:10:41SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:10:42BONANO: And do you remember, because you got selected in May 2011, when did you actually go?

01:10:46SIAKPERE: So I-- When I was selected in 2011, your rank changes and that didn't happen until like the fall of 2011. So at that point, I wasn't a staff sergeant anymore. I was a WOC, or a warrant officer candidate. And they even give you like the rank to wear where you're just like a WOC, so everybody knows that you're a candidate. That was fall of 2011. And then I started Warrant Officer Candidate School in January of 2012.

01:11:24BONANO: Oh, okay. So January 2012, you are in Fort Rucker starting your classes, right? The course was five weeks?

01:11:34SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:11:34BONANO: Okay. What was a typical day like?

01:11:36SIAKPERE: It was like basic training all over again. But with the same premise, they want to kind of like, break you of your old habits and mold you into the officer that they-- they want you to be. But it was a little different because the warrant officer candidate school is all comprised of higher ranking people that are applying to be a warrant officer. So a lot of things were very repetitive: same PTE, land navigation, leadership, they test your leadership skills. And I guess the vibe was a little different because being with people who were set in their ways and had made it to a certain rank, there were some soldiers, you know, it's-- It's hard. Some people are really good leaders but not good followers and in a position where everyone's a leader, you know, at some point you have to be a follower and you have support that leader, you know. And there were some people who didn't do that and so that was new to me because I, you know, I-- I don't like to put myself above other people, especially in like a teamwork atmosphere. Like, we're all a team and we're all working together. But some people were just super stubborn and didn't believe that they should be talked to a certain way or they didn't have to endure the things that we were going through because they had achieved a certain rank or whatever and so that was, I guess, one of the differences from basic training is seeing that attitude.

01:13:48BONANO: Okay, what was the discipline like at Warrant Officer Candidate School?

01:13:53SIAKPERE: It was very strict. It was very similar to Basic Training. We had drill sergeant type people, but they were called TAC officers. They didn't wear the drill sergeant hat, but they would wear like, a black baseball cap and wear like, a black t-shirt. And they would perform the same duties as a drill sergeant. I mean, everything was in your face, yelling at you, nothing was good enough, nothing was right. They'd wake you up in the middle of the night and just like-- to like, tear through your room and be like, okay, now clean it up just because, you know-- just very, very strict.

01:14:48BONANO: Um, did you have any down time?

01:14:53SIAKPERE: A little bit. And it wasn't like downtime where-- I mean, we didn't get to leave the post. We didn't get to, you know, there was a lot-- and we did get to like, they had a car wash, you know, that we had to raise money for like, our class t-shirts. And so, it was events like that that was kind of like our down time, but it was still like training in disguise. Yeah, we only got to call our family, I think-- I think I only got call home maybe two or three times during the whole five weeks. And it was only for ten minutes at a time because they took our cell phones. And then you had to earn them back based on, you know, where the class was in their training cycle. Um-- Yeah, not much like down time, down time to kind of just like decompress.

01:16:05BONANO: Any special people you remember from school?

01:16:14SIAKPERE: There was a couple, yeah. I remember when I first arrived there was a female, because everybody gets paired up, and her name was [Kirch??] Merrick, and I don't know, we just had a lot of similarities in the way that we approached life and approached-- approached things was very similar. Yeah, she was probably the first interaction that I had in warrant officer candidate school.

01:17:00BONANO: Do you remember how to spell her name?

01:17:02SIAKPERE: K-R-- I don't want to misspell it.

01:17:15BONANO: A guess is okay.

01:17:18SIAKPERE: Yeah, I don't want to misspell it.

01:17:19BONANO: All right.

01:17:20SIAKPERE: I'm sorry.

01:17:21BONANO: That's okay. Any other experiences you remember from Officer Candidate School?

01:17:44SIAKPERE: I-- like, even though it was one of the toughest schools I'd been in, um-- I enjoyed it. At the end of the day, yeah, there was a lot of parts that were not enjoyable at all. But you know, it shows you who you are and what you can accomplish. And you're stronger than you think. Or that's what I got out of it, you know? Because there's some people who don't make it and there's people who just flat out quit. It's kind of like a rite of passage, you know. You have to go through some really terrible things to earn, I guess, that rank. And when you finally, you know, get that dot pinned on you, it's like-- you're like, I made it, like, they-- I did it, and it's-- It's awesome.

01:19:09BONANO: Yeah, um, I forgot to ask, you were training to be a pilot warrant officer, correct? So what were your classes like?

01:19:19SIAKPERE: They were, I mean, there was a lot of classroom. It was broken up into sections. So after Warrant Officer Candidate School, there was a few weeks-- like a week of downtime, and then we did like, dunker training, which is basically they have this big swimming pool and this machine that's like, shaped like a fuselage, and you get strapped in, and then they dunk the machine in the pool and then turn it upside down. And then you have so many seconds to escape from that and come up above the water. And that's basically training you if there was ever a water landing, exposing you to, okay, this is what it feels like, this is what you need to do. You know, the exposing you to the equipment that you have, you know, on your vest that can help you in a situation like that and again, testing you on, okay, you know, here's this situation, how do you respond? So we did that and then uh-- went through like our SERE [survival, evasion, resistance, escape] training which is uh-- survival training. And that was three weeks. That was intense. You know, basically testing you on survival skills and how well you react under pressure, basically. After that, you know, you go through AeroMed, which is aeromedical training. It's just a few weeks and it's a lot of classroom instruction. And then you start getting into the actual piloting part, where you start out in the TH-67 helicopter, which is like a little training helicopter, just learning how to start the helicopter, how to take off, how to land, how to auto-rotate, which is like if there's a loss of power, how to kind of glide. And throughout this process, I mean, you need to know from memory, you know, emergency procedures and, you know, what to do, you know, at the drop of a hat, and how to react. So, you're constantly just being tested on all of these things from memory.

01:22:12BONANO: Okay, so you graduated in January 2012.

01:22:19SIAKPERE: I graduated Warrant Officer Candidate School in February 2012.

01:22:23BONANO: February 2012, got it. What was graduation like?

01:22:31SIAKPERE: Graduation, it was great. Because you graduate Warrant Officer Candidate School and then go on to the flight training. So when you pin on that dot, like I said, it was a sense of relief, you know, a sense of accomplishment. You know, being a warrant officer, there's not, you know, there's a very, very small percentage of the military that achieved the rank of warrant officer. So, you feel-- you just-- You know, that sense of pride and accomplishment is incredible.

01:23:23BONANO: Thanks for sharing. So February 2012, um, I got that after you've been promoted, you're a warrant officer now. You get transferred to B Company, 1/106th Aviation Regiment. Is that correct?

01:23:38SIAKPERE: Yeah, so I was actually transferred to Bravo Company before I left for flight school, because I had to take a slot, basically. So, I was transferred to Bravo Company before I went to flight school.

01:23:57BONANO: And when did you apply to flight school?

01:24:07SIAKPERE: I want to say, because it took a long time to get approved or to get selected, so I think I started the application process maybe in 2010 or 2011, because then I had to get my eye surgery, I had to recover from that and go through all the testing.

01:24:41BONANO: And you got selected when? Like, to go?

01:24:45SIAKPERE: That was May 2011.

01:24:48BONANO: Oh, okay. Got it. So you were selected a while back, but it took you a while before you were actually at flight school.

01:24:53SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:24:54BONANO: Okay. So were you with B Company for a while, before you went to flight school?

01:25:00SIAKPERE: No. No, they-- when I got selected, they transferred me to Bravo Company. And so I only drilled with them, I think, twice before I went to flight school.

01:25:16BONANO: Okay, so really quick before I get on to flight school, you're a warrant officer now. How did it feel returning back to to work now that you were a warrant officer? Did it feel any different?

01:25:28SIAKPERE: Well, after Warrant Officer Candidate School, it was all in one shot. So February 2012, I graduated Warrant Officer Candidate School and then stayed in Alabama--

01:25:40BONANO: Oh, okay.

01:25:41SIAKPERE: --for the flight school portion until August of 2013.

01:25:47BONANO: Got it, I thought you had gone back.

01:25:48SIAKPERE: Oh, no.

01:25:49BONANO: Okay. So, nevermind then, after you graduated Warrant Officer, you're still at Fort Rucker. And you go straight to flight school. So, what was the typical day like at flight school?

01:26:00SIAKPERE: Yeah, a lot of classroom instruction. Yeah, and I think I--

01:26:13BONANO: You mentioned some of the flight school earlier? Yeah.

01:26:20SIAKPERE: Yeah, and it was just broken up into sections, and so based on, you know, where you were in your flight training is what you were tested on at that point.

01:26:34BONANO: Was the discipline the same as Warrant Officer Candidate School?

01:26:37SIAKPERE: No, oh, no. You can-- you know, I lived actually in a motel that was like right outside post. Once your flight school day is done, I mean, you can do whatever. It was nothing like Warrant Officer Candidate School.

01:27:02BONANO: Um, any special people you remembered that you were with during flight school?

01:27:08SIAKPERE: Yeah, so I started off-- was-- well, they-- we called each other the Queen Suite, and we all went through SERE together. It was, I think, seven of us. And we were the only seven females in the whole class. My class was, want to say, at least 60 people. And we all stuck together through the survival training, which is undoubtedly the hardest part. Yeah, we call each other the Queen Suite because we just relied on each other so much for that support, especially through some pretty tough times.

01:28:03BONANO: Yeah, so any experiences you remember? You learned how to fly a Black Hawk helicopter, correct?

01:28:09SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:28:10BONANO: What was that like?

01:28:11SIAKPERE: That was awesome. [Laughs] I don't know how to describe it. So the first time I flew, I flew in just a training helicopter. They call it your nickel ride. And they give you a little plaque, and you find a nickel with your birth year on it. And the first day that you fly your helicopter, you take that nickel, and they glue it to that plaque. And so that date is your nickel ride, and that's the first day that you flight a helicopter. And it's just mind-blowing because you're up there and you have the controls in your hand and you're like "I'm flying this helicopter" like what is going on right now and you know, your flight instructor next to you, they're like, you know, "you have the controls" and you are sitting there you're like-- it's a feeling that I've never felt before. And-- I-- I said, I don't even know how to describe it. It's just unreal. And then when you fly the different types of helicopters and get more proficient, and we're like, okay, well, this does this, this, does this. Okay, this is how this helicopter maneuvers. And then finally getting to the Black Hawk, which, I mean, Black Hawks are huge. And I'm just like, this tiny little person. And so getting into that and knowing that the US Army entrusted me in flying this multi-million dollar, you know, vehicle, that-- it's incredible, it's absolutely incredible.

01:30:17BONANO: So, after that point you were certified a UH-60 pilot, correct?

01:30:21SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:30:22BONANO: Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to do in the future with this, you know, warrant officer, flight school training, your certifications? What were you thinking about your future?

01:30:32SIAKPERE: I had wanted to get into flying full-time and that was the goal from the start when I started applying. You know, I'm like, okay, well if I'm going to do this and if I am going to make this commitment, I am, you know, going to go all in and you know, I have this training, you know, not a lot of people get the opportunity to get that type of training. And so, you know, I wanted to do it full-time, whether it be like medevac or, you know, some civilian helicopter company or, you know, transitioning on to, you know, a full-time job with the Guard. You know, that was always the goal. And because-- in the National Guard because my electronics position required me to be in that job, so in that specific military occupational specialty, because I had transitioned to a pilot, it wasn't compatible with my electronics job. So I actually had to resign my electronics positions when I got my wings at flight school.

01:31:52BONANO: Okay, um, I was just about to ask about that. So I got this wrong earlier. So now after you had graduated flight school you go to Bravo Company, 1/106th Aviation Regiment.

01:32:04SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:32:04BONANO: And so you get back in-- I have you down you graduated flight school August 2013.

01:32:10SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:32:11BONANO: What was graduation like?

01:32:14SIAKPERE: Graduation was awesome. My grandma, who was in the Navy, she-- That's all she could talk about, was coming to graduation and she was able to be there and she pinned on my wings. [Getting emotional] And she had been having some health issues in the months coming to that. And so I was just super grateful that she was able to be there. And she had been talking about it for so long. And she picked out a special dress to wear. And she was so proud. And she pinned on my wings, and I have the picture, like-- She was so proud of me. And she ended up passing in the following January. So, what, five months after? Just having her be there to do that, I will never forget.

01:33:58BONANO: Thank you so much for sharing that. It's very impactful.

01:34:03SIAKPERE: I'm sorry.

01:34:03BONANO: It's okay. Take your time. Do you need a minute? Are you okay?

01:34:10SIAKPERE: Can I get a minute?

01:34:11BONANO: Sure. [Recording cuts] This is segment three of the interview with Abby. We were just talking about graduating flight school. So after you graduated flight school, you went to Bravo Company, 1/106th Aviation Regiment in Chicago. Yeah, and you mentioned that you had to resign from your DoD job because you had different-- you weren't doing electronics anymore full-time, I'm assuming?

01:34:38SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:34:39BONANO: So what was your MOS now?

01:34:41SIAKPERE: It was a 153-Delta, which is UH-60 pilot.

01:34:45BONANO: Okay, so you're a UH-60 pilot full-time now.

01:34:49SIAKPERE: Yes, in the Guard.

01:34:50BONANO: Okay, and now you're a warrant officer. So back to that original question I had, what was a typical day like with all these new qualifications and new rank and everything?

01:34:58SIAKPERE: Um, well, it took me a while to actually find a new job, a few months. Because-- and I didn't realize this at the time, in order to be like a full-time pilot, there's a certain amount of hours that you need to even like apply. And being right out of flight school, I was nowhere near that amount of hours to even qualify. And so I wasn't able, you know, for-- I wouldn't have been eligible for years to even apply to get a pilot job in the civilian sector. So it took me a minute, and actually, so I graduated August of 2013 and then the government shut down on October 1st of 2013, and everything's based on funding, and so I didn't actually get to fly again for a few months because everything was kind of based on funding and being kind of the lowest on the totem pole when I got to the unit as far as training. I didn't get to fly for a couple of months after that. So it was a lot different because I went from flying every day and using that skill constantly to not doing anything at all.

01:36:35BONANO: Any concerns you were gonna be rusty?

01:36:37SIAKPERE: Yes, absolutely. It is one of those, if you don't use it, you lose it type things. And the memorization, a lot of it was, you know, when you do it and say it every day, obviously it sticks in your head and you don't have to work to think about it. Whereas now, you're not thinking about it every day and you're at home, you're not in that flight line atmosphere, you're not using that skill every day. And yeah, I was absolutely worried. I was like, I don't want to lose what I have.

01:37:17BONANO: Yeah, that is a concern. So what was your civilian job after the DoD job?

01:37:23SIAKPERE: I ended up getting a job with Northrop Grumman, they're like a government-- or a civilian contracting company. And they actually make one of the units that goes into the Black Hawk. And so, I end up getting like, an inspector position with them, basically inspecting the equipment before it kind of goes out to whoever is purchasing it.

01:37:58BONANO: Okay. You mentioned the government was shut down October 2013 for a few months. What were you doing when the government shut down?

01:38:07SIAKPERE: I wasn't doing anything because--

01:38:08BONANO: Literally nothing.

01:38:09SIAKPERE: Yeah, there was nothing that I could do. You know, there were no drill, you couldn't, you know, kind of do anything. A lot of the hiring was paused at that moment and so there's really not much I could you know, I was like, okay. Well, I'll just wait till you know things kind of clear up and you know, I think it was a few weeks that it was shut down, but even when stuff opened back up again, obviously it takes a while for things to restart. So I didn't end up getting my job at Northrop until January of 2014. No, yeah, 2014.

01:38:55BONANO: And around that time is when you were able to drill again and things like that?

01:38:58SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:38:59BONANO: Okay. So downtime, what did you do during this time period?

01:39:12SIAKPERE: I did a lot of studying. I-- Um, we-- my wife, we had gotten married in 2011, like before I went to flight school. But because same-sex marriage wasn't federally legal at that time, I had to go to flight school on my own, and she had to stay in Chicago while I was training. And so now that I was home and home all the time, it was actually nice to kind of like finally be home and be able to connect. So we just did a lot of like future planning and finally got to kind of be the couple that we should have been all along but weren't able to.

01:40:19BONANO: If you don't mind me asking, how long were you with your wife before you got married?

01:40:22SIAKPERE: Uh, two years.

01:40:24BONANO: Two years. Okay. And gay marriage was legalized in 2011?

01:40:29SIAKPERE: Yes, I want to say like the end of 2011 is when it was finally recognized.

01:40:38BONANO: So you got married after it was recognized.

01:40:40SIAKPERE: Yeah, we had a civil union in 2011 and then actually after I got back from flight school we had to get married again in Iowa because in Iowa it was legal and so then we got married in Iowa in 2013? No, I want to say 2013. And then yeah, it's all like blurring together at this point because then they-- when it became federally legal, they backdated it to the original 2011 date. So we've officially been married since 2011, but had to go through a lot of just extra stuff.

01:41:30BONANO: Okay, that makes sense. So in 2013 you were like, very finally officially married.

01:41:34SIAKPERE: Yeah.

01:41:34BONANO: Okay. Okay, any special people you remember from when you were with the 1/106th?

01:41:43SIAKPERE: Yeah. There-- there was-- No, the pilots there were great. They accepted me like, you know, one of their own and kind of took me under their wing. And I don't know, like, formed bonds with people super quick because, you know, not only are there fellow pilots, there's the crew chiefs, and the crew chiefs, like, they're what keeps, you know, everything running. And some of the crew chiefs there, you know, like-- They embraced me and both the pilots and the crew chiefs, they said, in a short period of time, formed bonds that, again, I will never forget. And learned a lot. You know, you learn a lot from each other and you learn lot by doing and performing the tasks. And if you don't do it correctly, you know, they're there to correct you but help you. And I got that support from, like, some of the other pilots and even the crew chiefs, you know, and I appreciate that.

01:43:29BONANO: All right, so, um, were you able to fly regularly with this unit?

01:43:40SIAKPERE: Yes. So there was-- they called them AFTPs, which additional flight training periods that you could sign up for and you could do like, a one and a half to two hour flight during those periods, but they're limited and based on where you are in your training, like, you could only fly-- I could only fly with, you know, another pilot that was an instructor. I couldn't fly with another pilot that was at my level. So it was very limited at what I, you know, the periods that I could fly for. And then based on, you know, how many hours you have is like what level of training that you are. So you move up from like, RL1 or-- RL3 to RL2 to RL1. And so, again, with everything happening with, like, funding and stuff, it was very difficult kind of being able to sign up for those flight periods and getting to fly, because you're also at the mercy of, you know, weather and other pilots, because they all need their training hours, too. And if they have, you know, wouldn't-- When you get night vision goggles certified, you also have to keep up with that certification as well and fly so many hours to maintain that. And they got priority. So yes, I did get to fly, but there's just a lot of other factors that went into how often I got to fly.

01:45:33BONANO: Right. I have down that in 2015 you began to experience some medical issues. You don't got to go into super huge detail, but whatever you want to tell us-- What was going on?

01:45:46SIAKPERE: I just-- I started to notice that-- I would have periods where, like, my brain would send a signal, but my hands and feet weren't receiving that signal, and I didn't know what that was at that point. And I would experience just, my whole body would hurt, and it would hurt and hurt, and nothing-- nothing would, like-- I couldn't figure out why it was hurting. And it was like a deep muscle pain, whereas it wasn't like, you know, like I stubbed my toe or, you know, it affected everything and then it affected my thinking. You know, my thinking was like, super cloudy. I was having trouble like, finding words, putting words together, just basic memorization, like, remembering things. And I'm like, I can't go on like this. And you know, I went to the doctor and got tons of tests done and everything came back inconclusive. And so I really didn't know what was happening.

01:47:11BONANO: You mentioned in your pre-interview phone call with me that you couldn't seek help for your health. Is-- was that a reference to the fact that you went to the doctor and everything was inconclusive?

01:47:19SIAKPERE: Yeah and like, there's only certain medications that you can take and certain amounts of medications that you can in order to still be able to fly. And so, some of the things that doctors were like, okay, well, this might help and this might help, you know, I was like, I can't take that because you need flight surgeon approval to be able do that and it would take me off of flight status. And so at that point I had to-- [dog making noise] there was-- I had to make a decision because I couldn't keep flying in the condition that I was in and I didn't feel safe flying and I couldn't keep going the way that I was going with how I felt and not knowing what was causing it. So I-- I was like, okay, I made a decision that basically ended my career.

01:48:47BONANO: Okay, when you say you made a decision that ended your career, was it that you yourself decided to leave, or were, you know, were decisions made above your head that you should be discharged?

01:49:01SIAKPERE: No, I knew that I-- I couldn't-- I couldn't do it. There was just-- [pause] I didn't feel confident, I didn't feel safe, and I was-- the pain was unbearable and I knew that I wouldn't be able to recover with the way that I was feeling. And didn't know why.

01:49:58BONANO: So I know at that time-- sorry.

01:49:59SIAKPERE: No, it's okay.

01:50:00BONANO: I know that time you didn't know what was going on. Were you able to figure it out eventually or--?

01:50:06SIAKPERE: Yeah, so after I'd been out-- After I-- Like, after everything was said and done and I kind of looked back and I-- [pause] I had endometriosis and didn't know what that was until much later. And wasn't ever diagnosed with that. And so I think that played a huge part in what was happening. I think mental health played a big part in it. And I, you know, as a pilot, at the time you couldn't seek mental help-- mental health help. And that was part of my decision, because I was like, with my mental health being the way it is, I think I need help and I need to get help.

01:51:40BONANO: So, sorry, go ahead.

01:51:41SIAKPERE: It's okay.

01:51:43BONANO: You were going to the VA at this time?

01:51:46SIAKPERE: I had gone to the VA-- well, like I said, nobody could really put a definitive finger on what was causing all of it. So I was officially taken off of flight status. And then, you know, they tried me on different things to try to help, and it helped a little bit. You know, there was periods where I'm like, oh, I think I'm getting better. But then it would just go right back to the way it was. And then at that point, you know, the Guard, if you're a pilot that can't fly, you know, I had asked what my other options are and there really weren't many. So, you know, Julie and I, my wife and I, we kind of talked and I'm like, okay, you know, we want to start a family, and I don't think the Guard is going to keep me anymore. And at that point, I knew that they weren't, so I knew I would be discharged after that.

01:53:19BONANO: Okay, so you knew it was going to happen.

01:53:22SIAKPERE: Part of me did. I don't know if I wanted to believe it fully at that point because the Guard has always been a part of my life and I said, I loved what I did. So ultimately making that decision, it took everything that I had.

01:53:49BONANO: Thanks for sharing that. It's extremely tough. I have down. You were medically discharged in October 2017, correct?

01:53:55SIAKPERE: Correct.

01:53:56BONANO: Okay. You kind of mentioned this, but I'll ask for more detail. You didn't want to leave and you kind of fished around for-- was there an option to move to another job? What were you willing to do to stay in? Like, what was your idea?

01:54:11SIAKPERE: Um, there was like, some advisory roles, like kind of what I did at the 108th that didn't involve actively flying. You know, I could be like in an advisory position. And then at that point, that's when we started looking to moving to Wisconsin. And so I tried calling around to see, because UAVs or drone flight was starting to take off at that point, and someone had mentioned to me that that might be another option to kind of go into. And so I did call, but a lot of the positions were already filled and had kind of backlog of people to be filled. And I was like, okay, again, if it's not my time, it's not my time, and I'll just deal with it as it comes.

01:55:12BONANO: Mm-hm. Why were you deciding to move to Wisconsin?

01:55:17SIAKPERE: Both of our families lived here and we wanted to start a family and so we knew that it was important to have that kind of family support and be closer to family when we made that decision. Yeah, we just wanted to be closer to family.

01:55:45BONANO: Okay, so initially how did it feel being out, finally out of the military?

01:55:54SIAKPERE: I was sad [laughs] and it's different. You know, it had always been a part of me, and so trying to transition into a civilian role that didn't involve the military, it was very tough. And then dealing with these medical issues on top of it, you know, in a new state. It was hard for me to kind of deal with.

01:56:44BONANO: Thank you for sharing that. So you got a new civilian job?

01:56:48SIAKPERE: Yes.

01:56:49BONANO: Where were you working?

01:56:49SIAKPERE: Fort McCoy.

01:56:50BONANO: Oh, okay. What were you doing at Fort McCoy?

01:56:54SIAKPERE: I started off in range operations, basically like, maintaining the ranges that they used to do the training at. And then a position opened up at the airport doing fuel, like refueling operations. And since I had aviation experience in background, you know, that seemed like a good fit. And so, yeah, I started doing that.

01:57:25BONANO: When did you start your Fort McCoy job?

01:57:31SIAKPERE: January of 2016.

01:57:41BONANO: Okay, so you started before you got discharged?

01:57:45SIAKPERE: Yes, yeah, because I still-- even though I wasn't flying, I was still with my unit and still drilled, and they actually-- they had me do flight operations. So for the last, I want to say, year or so, I helped out with flight operations doing that, and that was-- that was awesome because I could still apply my aviation experience to what I was doing. I still had interactions with all the pilots, you know, it was easy for me to transition into something that I had been specifically trained to do. And I was able to just kind of keep doing what I was doing without the flight portion.

01:58:34BONANO: Okay, so you're out, you have your job, you're with your family in Wisconsin. Any use of your veteran's benefits?

01:58:43SIAKPERE: Um, so, I-- And so I was discharged in October of 2017. Like two weeks after that, I sustained a fall at Fort McCoy and got a concussion. And that was-- that kind of-- That, I guess, made everything worse. And so, I-- With the concussion, I wasn't able to work because things just stopped working. Um-- And I had gone to the civilian doctor and they were great and offered help and I had gone to the Tomah VA for a second opinion. And they denied me and then told me I was faking.

02:00:34BONANO: I'm sorry about that. Do you want to talk about what that was like at the VA being told, you know, that whatever you were going through wasn't real?

02:01:02SIAKPERE: That experience took a part of me that I will never get back. Ever.

02:01:16BONANO: I'm sorry about that. Thanks for sharing though. So, since having your fall and dealing with your medical issues, have you been working at all?

02:01:31SIAKPERE: No, I DJ part-time.

02:01:35BONANO: Cool!

02:01:36SIAKPERE: Yeah, and that's been awesome and just helping me, like, after my fall I developed just really horrible symptoms and PTSD. And so, DJing has helped me kind of reintegrate back into the community and music has been huge part in one, helping me cognitively, because I've always been musically minded, so just kind of reform those connections between my brain and my hands and my feet, keeping me sharp. And it helps kind of like drown out like, the symptoms, because when I'm listening to music, I don't have-- like, everything just seems like it goes away. So yeah, that's really helped me.

02:02:58BONANO: Thanks for sharing that. Music is very important. Did you continue any relationships with people you served with?

02:03:11SIAKPERE: I tried to for a little while, and like we-- me and Tammy, we text back and forth every now and then, but since I've moved, like I said, I miss everybody very much. But I feel almost like a sense of maybe shame, because if you would have asked me 15 years ago how you think I'd be today, you would never have thought that I'd where I am or how I am. And so I'm afraid that reconnecting with people who knew me from before are going to somehow be like disappointed maybe because I'm not the same person that I was. And in some aspects, it's a positive, but I don't know, I don't want them to be disappointed or shocked because I am not the same person that I was.

02:04:39BONANO: Thanks for sharing that, I understand that. So, this is more of a general question, thoughts on being a veteran?

02:04:51SIAKPERE: I'm proud to be a veteran. And I'm proud that I got to help my country. And excelled in places that normally people wouldn't or thrived in situations where normally people wouldn't. I wouldn't-- Even though I'm not the same person I was, the military made me who I am at my core and you know, the sense of just internal discipline, you know, like I still always try to push myself when I can and almost have to stop myself because I'm like, you know what, I'm not in the military anymore, you know like, I can't keep going at this pace. You know, and the places that I've been, the things that I learned, are very unique, you know, not a lot of people get that type of training and get to experience those types of things. And so I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity to get to do that.

02:07:00BONANO: Yesterday was Memorial Day. Anything you and your family do for Memorial Day?

02:07:11SIAKPERE: Not really, but I kind of prefer it that way only because Memorial Day was the day after I got back from Iraq back in 2008, and so Memorial Day has always been kind of like that day for me. And so, the way that I like to celebrate it is just by holding those memories close and remembering those who served before me and who continue to serve and knowing that, you know, we all-- We all did something pretty great and should be proud of that.

02:08:08BONANO: I was also going to ask about Veterans Day, the two holidays are different. Did you do anything for Veterans Day?

02:08:14SIAKPERE: No, I-- you know, we used to go out and places do, you know, like a free dinner for veterans and we used to do that. And then, a few years ago, like, I noticed, like-- I don't know, there's a lot of veterans that don't get the opportunity to enjoy those things. And I did. And so, I wanted to give other veterans a chance to enjoy these things as well. And so, I don't much anymore. Like this past Veterans Day, I was invited-- my niece had like a Veterans Day assembly at their gym and that was really nice, just being there and acknowledging. And I enjoyed that.

02:09:31BONANO: That sounds great. What do you think your life would have been like if you had never served in the military?

02:09:46SIAKPERE: I actually don't know. I needed-- I needed some source of stability at that point in my life, and the military was definitely that for me. So without that I don't think I would have known what I wanted to do. And I wouldn't have-- you know, I thought I was going to be a graphic designer. At the time that field was mainly based on, you know, very freelance work. It wasn't a lot of like stable full-time positions available. So, I don't know where I'd be. [Laughs]

02:10:56BONANO: I get that a lot. What motivated you to do this interview?

02:11:03SIAKPERE: Our County VSO, Jane Brannan, she kind of put it out there and she had mentioned that the project was happening and she was helping bring it to Wisconsin and bring it La Crosse County. I've known Jane Brannan, she used to work at UWL when I was going there and so she worked with me through everything since I've been here in La Crosse, and encouraged me and others to do it, and it's-- I think it's very, very important because I think as women, especially women in the military, you are kind of taught and not overtly, kind of inertly, like taught to downplay, you know, your accomplishments or to just blend in or to, you know, not stand out. And with that, you don't see the achievements or the accomplishments or the contributions and how important they are to the bigger picture. And so just being a part of this project, I think it's awesome because even here locally, I mean, they just within the last few years opened a women's clinic at the Tomah VA. And, you know, just recently, you got doctors that are specifically trained in women's issues, which is refreshing to see now, but it's also, it makes me sad that it's, you know, 2026 and this is now just happening, you know. Whereas women have been part of the military force for--

02:13:19BONANO: Like your grandma.

02:13:20SIAKPERE: Yeah, and you know, hearing, you know, even just connecting with other women veterans and knowing that a lot of our stories, however traumatic they may be, are eerily similar. But it helps you process and it helps you cope. And I think that's just as important.

02:13:53BONANO: Definitely. Thank you for sharing that. Um, we're almost done so this is, uh, last call. Did we miss anything that you'd like to cover? It could be about literally anything.

02:14:05SIAKPERE: Oh, man. I'll probably think of it in, like, two hours, but-- At the moment, no.

02:14:22BONANO: Nothing for now?

02:14:23SIAKPERE: No.

02:14:23BONANO: Okay. Well, then, I will say that concludes the interview. Thank you so much, Abby.

02:14:28SIAKPERE: Thank you.