Page 29 of Bernadette
“Yes, that’s the word I’m looking for. Because the military is still dominantly a man’s world, getting women to join was a victory for women, especially if they joined the Marines. No, you ladies were judged or rather, assessed when you filled out your application with your local recruiter. Because they saw you first, while you were still, again, for lack of a better word, raw, they were able to make assessments as to where the right fit for you would be.”
“Oh, wow,” Joyce said as she looked at the other women, before back to Bernie. “I remember the recruiter I went to was a local. I saw him in his office every day, and when he closed for lunch, he would walk around the neighborhood in his uniform. I thought that was so cool. He was friends with a lot of people, and when he needed his car worked on, he brought it to Stingers.”
“That was where he saw you at your best, that was his comments in your file, that you had experience working on different motors. There were also comments about how you acted with others in your job, and your attitude not only toward those people, but about the actual job.”
“What’s that mean?” Chuck asked.
“Let’s say if that recruiter walked into Joyce’s garage and saw her swearing, throwing tools, yelling at the customer, her co-workers, or even made comments about how much she hated her job, then it wouldn’t be feasible to put her in the motor pool.”
“Ah, I understand now, because the team of women had to collaborate closely with each other, then you wouldn’t want someone on a team that couldn’t work well with others.”
“Exactly. My job for fifteen of my twenty years in, made me in charge.”
“Of?” Alfie asked this time.
“The entire EWM program.” Bernie looked at everyone and saw clarity on the women’s faces, but confusion on the men’s. “I was the one that was given the information for a mission and had to coordinate it with the other branches of the military if it were a team effort, or if I could send my girls in by themselves. Nine times out of ten, that’s what I did. I usually only teamed my girls up with the SEALs at their request. Not always, but if there was a problem that the men couldn’t conquer, and they knew that before they even went in. Their commander would reach out to me, then together we would coordinate the mission to have the teams work together.” She looked around and nodded. “I know that didn’t answer your questions as to what constituted as a tour, but that’s what I did. My tour was when I signed on to when I had the opportunity to re-enlist or retire.”
“Are you signed on for a certain amount of time?” Chuck asked.
“Yes, my first tour was for six years. About six months before that tour ended, I was offered the commander’s job, and of course I had to take it. When my tour reached the point of ending or continuing, I naturally decided to continue.”
“One thing you have to understand,” Astrid said from her seat. “The first tour is always the longest, like for six years. After that one, and if you want to continue, they are usually, not always, but usually for four years.”
“Each time you decide to stay?” Justin asked.
“Yes, once you re-enlist, then the military will probably send you someplace else. They don’t want you to get stale and complacent in your tour.”
Bernie noticed by the expression on the men’s faces that they understood what was being said by the women. She nodded, then decided to impart some news on them, but before she could say anything, Chuck took her hand in his and asked quietly, “Can you discuss what happened to you?” At her look, he pointed to her left knee that was in a stiff brace from ankle to mid-thigh.
“Before we do that, why don’t we fix lunch?” Someone said and Bernie sighed in relief. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to tell them, it’s just that she was still so pissed off that it had happened on her watch.
CHAPTER12
An hourlater they were all sitting at the dining room table, filling their plates for lunch. For the first time, Bernie realized that someone was missing. “Where’s Carl?”
“He went back to his place for the day to do what he does there,” Chuck said as he shrugged and passed her a bowl with some sort of salad in it. It turned out they were eating leftovers from the wedding. Dolly said they would get eaten faster if she sent them home with the Stuarts and the ladies of Boswell.
“Such as?”
“I don’t know, go through his mail, pay his bills, clean his place. If he’s not working diligently on the case, he says he goes there to unwind for the week, and to give us time to ourselves.”
“Okay.” She took the bowl and put some of the food on her plate and passed on the next two bowls. When it came to the platter of roasted pig, she wore a grin as she took a large helping of it before passing it along. She looked at Chuck with a smirk when he lifted the sandwich he’d made of the stuff and nodded to her. They were all silent as they ate, and it wasn’t until coffee was passed around that Bernie sat back and patted her stomach. “That hit the spot.”
“Thank you,” the others said, and it looked like no one really wanted to do anything, so she started her tale.
“Let’s get this over with. As I mentioned earlier, I was the commander for the EWMs for the last fifteen years. What you might not know is that sometimes, not always, but sometimes when other branches of the military needed a special touch, I would go on their missions with them.”
“Special touch, how?” Chuck frowned at her.
“The same thing these ladies did on their missions, but I don’t think it was really what you would consider a special touch. More like they would need only one woman, and not a team of them. Someone who could blend into the area with a member or two of the all-male team they were paired with.”
“Do you mean to act like a couple when you were checking things out?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
“I can, however, I cannot mention names, locations, or any military things.”
