Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

Her wish list was simple. She wanted to see her family, green grass, and snow. She wanted to eat home cooked food and sit in complete silence, with the only sound coming from the frogs and crickets outside.

No more 100 degree heat, no more public bathrooms and no more canned or dried food.

Items that many people take for granted, were some of most treasured by Platoon Leader Melisa Gilbertson from Scandia.

Gilbertson, 27, returned to Minnesota on July 16, 2007 after spending 22 months serving in Iraq, the longest tour of duty by any other group of soldiers.

Life in Iraq

The Chisago Lakes High School graduate joined the Minnesota Army National Guard her final year of college at Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall in 2002.

Gilbertson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and one month after graduation she was in Fort Leonardwood, MO at Basic Training.

Two years later, in August of 2005, she was officially told she was headed to Iraq.

“I was nervous and excited about going to Iraq and hesitant because of what was going on in Iraq,” Gilbertson said. “I was also nervous to be away from my family and friends so long. I was worried that everything would change too much while I was gone.”

The group trained at Camp Shelby, MS and was soon shipped off to southern Iraq near An Nasiriyah.

While Gilbertson held many jobs in Iraq, her main position was acting as a Medical Service Corps Officer.

“My official job is a platoon leader which means my real army job is to lead a platoon of 30-40 soldiers which includes medics, doctors, PA’s, nurses and dentists,” Gilbertson said.

As time went on, Gilbertson’s roles changed.

For about six months she was considered a Battalion Assistant Plans Officer and was responsible for briefing the convoys and patrols and preparing them for their missions.

“I also collected information from staff officers for the daily FRAGO and published the daily FRAGO,” Gilbertson said. “A FRAGO is a fragmentary order which basically tells a unit from its higher what their responsibilities and tasks are.”

She also acted as a Company Operations and Intelligence Officer.

“I, along with another soldier, was responsible in making sure the soldiers received the information they needed to complete their patrols,” Gilbertson said. “I also collected the data and information the patrols collected and submitted it to the battalion intelligence section.”

Gilbertson said that once their tour of duty was extended, her position changed again to a Treatment Platoon Leader.

“We worked in joint hospital with a company from the New York National Guard and three active duty units, a dental company, a surgical team and other elements,” Gilbertson said. “I was responsible to make sure, along with my Platoon Sergeant, that we ensured our areas we ran in the Hospital were staffed at all times. I made sure enough medics and doctors were available in the event of a mass casualty event.”

In between working on various assignments, Gilbertson’s days were pretty simple.

She said most days she would wake up around 5-5:30 in the morning and go for a run. Gilbertson worked from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and would either return to the gym, watch a movie or play cribbage.

“Usually my day involved completing paperwork, ensuring all taskings were completed and checking up on my soldiers to make sure everything was going ok with them,” Gilbertson said.

However, not everyday was as typical. Gilbertson said she had good days and she had bad days.

One of the worst days she remembers in her 22 months in Iraq was when she found out their tour had been extended for another four months.

She said the overall moral of the her group, the Charlie Company 134 Brigade Support Battalion, 1 Brigade Combat Team, 34 Infantry Division, was generally high except when they found out their tour was extended.

“It obviously got really low when we were extended,” Gilbertson said.

To cope with the extension, Gilbertson said many of the troops just hung out, played cards, played video games and participated in softball and volleyball leagues.

Gilbertson also reflected on her best moment in Iraq and it wasn’t just a moment.

“My best experience [in Iraq] was getting to lead and work with a great group of intelligent and hardworking people,” she said. “My soldiers really cared about what they did and strived to provide the utmost care to anyone who came to the hospital regardless of it they were Iraqi, American, contractors or anyone else.

“They amazed me with their attitudes, especially after we were extended,” she added.

Home

Conveniences

Gilbertson said that if there are people who are looking for ways to help, she said there are a few conveniences that many troops go without.

“Chapstick and lotion is always good to send to soldiers,” she said. “I liked getting the travel size lotions because they fit really easy into your pockets.”

Other conveniences she mentioned were dried fruit like apples, apricots and cherries. She said most people send peanuts, popcorn and beef jerky.

One thing Gilbertson thought was more indulgent than needed were celebrity magazines.

“It was fun to read People and more of the ‘smut’ magazines and laugh at how trivial some people thought things were,” she said.

Among the other items Gilbertson said the troops enjoyed was anything “homemade,” although she did say that bars seemed to make it easier than cookies.

“DVDs were good to get, especially if someone sent a newer released movie or an old favorite from when you were younger,” Gilbertson said. “Books are always good, especially paperback. We shared and passed a lot of books around.”

She also stated that receiving mail was a huge moral booster, no matter what the contents of it were.

There was one huge moral booster. The day when they found out they would be leaving Iraq.

Coming home

On July 10, 2007, Gilbertson was greeted in Bangor, Maine by a group of Army Veterans.

“They greeted us in Bangor and had snacks and free cell use for us to call home,” she said. “Many were Vietnam Vets and I wish we could have traded spots so they could get the homecoming that they deserve but never got.”

When Gilbertson landed, she immediately called her family to tell her she was on US soil.

From Maine the brigade traveled to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

“We spent a week at McCoy going through the demobilization process,” Gilbertson said.

They then left McCoy and received an escort from the Patriot Guards from the border of Wisconsin to the Armory in Cottage Grove.

“We had police, fire department and EMT escorts all the way to the armory. It was pretty overwhelming,” she said.

When they arrived in Cottage Grove, Gilbertson said they were greeted by hundreds of cheering family and friends.

While Gilbertson spent time with family and friends when she returned, there were a few more everyday things she couldn’t wait to do.

The first thing she did was go to the local mall and bought a new outfit.

“I left the department store with it on and my uniform in the shopping bag,” she said.

Her first meal, naturally, was sweet corn.

Gilbertson’s family owns and operates Gilbertson’s Farm in Scandia where they are known for their sweet corn.

Gilbertson has slowly adjusted to her life in Minnesota, occasionally helping her family at various farmers markets.

She took the rest of the summer slow and this fall she started graduate school at Augsburg College.

“I’ll be working on my Master’s in Education,” she said.

While she expects to continue with school and finish her Master’s, Gilbertson said she still has to keep up with her commitment to the Army National Guard.

“I have to attend 30, 60 and 90 day integration events and after that I have to attend drill one weekend a month,” she said. “I still have four years left, so the possibility of another deployment is there.”

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