Waynesburg woman makes history
From left are Pvt. Cicely Verstein of Greensburg, Pvt. Amanda Layman of Niles, Mich., Pvt. Christian Haws of Harlem, N.Y., Staff Sgt. Walker, Pvt. Christy Bailey of Horatio, Ark., and Pvt. Melissa Allen of Waynesburg.
Melissa Allen, 20, of Waynesburg, stands at attention during her graduation ceremony with 3rd Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, Echo Company, May 31 at Harmony Church. Allen is one of the first five females to ever hold the 91M Bradley Fighting Machine maintenance specialist position in the Army.
A 2011 Waynesburg Central High School graduate made history last week when she became one of the first five women to graduate from the Army’s Bradley maintainer course at Fort Benning, Ga. The course previously was offered only to men. That changed in February of last year when six military occupational specialty (MOS) positions became available to women.
Melissa Allen, 20, formerly of Waynesburg, was among the first group of females to sign up for MOS 91M, the Bradley Maintainer course.
When she graduated from high school, Allen had a goal of getting out of Waynesburg and the military came to fit that goal more and more, she said.
“Don’t get me wrong. I really liked Waynesburg. I just wanted to do what I can do and see what I can see,” she said. “I wanted bigger and better things than what was there.”
Allen said her long family history of being in the military was a contributing factor to her decision.
“That was part of it,” Allen said. “Basically, I wanted to serve my country and do my duty.”
She follows in the footsteps of her older brothers, David Zollars, 24, and Donnie Zollars, 23, who both served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Waynesburg.
“My brothers were really supporting me and guided me through every step as much as they could,” she said. “It was Davy who dropped me off at the recruiting office when I went to basic training.”
There were a lot of different jobs she could have opted to train for out of basic but this one appealed to her more than most positions, she said. And, it was never open to females prior to her enlistment. Fort Benning only began to receive female soldiers last year.
“I honestly wasn’t quite sure how it was going to go. It was rocky at first. They’d never had females at Fort Benning,” Allen said. “We came together as a family. In the platoon everyone gets in trouble at different times. It is another reason to become even closer, a team, and to build each other up.”
There were six women when the course started. Although only five graduated in May the sixth, Pvt. Cicely Verstein of Greensburg, plans to return to complete the course after being released from an injury leave, Allen said.
Three of the women from her group have been sent to Fort Hood, Texas. One, Pvt. Christian Haws of New York, was assigned with Allen to Fort Riley, Kan. It has helped with the transition to have a friend built in with it. Allen and Daws have been together since basic training, she said. Friday was their first official day working as 91Ms after arriving at their new post a week ago.
“It is definitely different here, that’s for sure. We met our first sergeant today and everyone has been extremely supportive,” Allen said. “They are excited that we were in the news and have been very welcoming.”
Next up will be putting her 14 weeks of training to the test. Allen said she is prepared for whatever comes. Deployment is a possibility as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle maintainer. It’s something Allen said she can’t be fearful of if it happens. “If I have to deploy, I have to deploy,” she said.
Although there is an ongoing debate about allowing women to serve in combat roles on the frontline, Allen’s new position could certainly place here near it. As a 91M, she will be responsible for engine repair, troubleshooting mechanical and electrical problems, repairing and replacing body panels, and repairing and replacing fenders, power packs, weapons systems and radiators. As a Bradley mechanic, the overall responsibility is to keep the vehicle in the fight and troops moving safely in battle.
Bradleys may not be the only vehicles that Allen has to keep in the action. Troops may deploy with Humvees or route clearance equipment. Allen’s newly acquired knowledge of electrical schematics and how electrical systems operate will give her the basic skills to keep these vehicles in service as well.
Whether or not this becomes Allen’s lifetime occupation is still in the air.
“I try not to get my hopes up about things like that. I plan to take some online classes and get more schooling while I am here and go from there,” she said. She currently has three years and 28 weeks of her enlistment to decide.