United States Army Sargeant First Class (SFC) Melanie Domaoan Williams
She’s not your typical dalagang Pilipina – commonly used to describe women who are meek, shy and delicate. In fact, United States Army Sargeant First Class (SFC) Melanie Domaoan Williams was strong, brave and opinionated enough to decide for herself that she wanted to be a soldier.
She was recruited at a mall in Daly City, California, by a fellow Filipino recruiter. The young Pinay signed up for four years. But like most Filipino parents who are protective of their children and have some misconceptions about the Army in general, SFC Williams’ mom was apprehensive.
“My mom didn’t want me to join. I guess because I’m a female and she didn’t think I’d be able to complete the training. It took a lot of convincing,” SFC Williams said of her mother Nadia’s hesitation to give her blessing to join the U.S. Army.
“She was scared because she thought I was going to go to war. I think that’s the main misconception. When we go to combat environment, we are there to do our job. I’m a human resources specialist, so even in a combat , when I’m deployed, I’m doing my HR job. We’re not all gonna fight the enemy. We’re there to support the guys who are actually fighting,” SFC Williams explained.
While stationed at Fort Drum, SFC Williams deployed to Iraq for 15 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In August 2008, SFC Williams was reassigned to Fort Jackson, SC and served as the Battalion human resources sergeant for 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. In February 2011, she was reassigned to Fort Hood, TX as the senior human resources sergeant for 720th Military Police Battalion. While at Fort Hood, she completed a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In April 2013, SFC Williams attended the Army Recruiting Course in Fort Jackson, SC and is currently assigned to LA Battalion, Long Beach Company, Lakewood Center.
Looking back during the interview, SFC Williams Admitted she had fears before she entered the Army; but not the same things her mother was afraid of. She said she was afraid she wasn’t going to be fit enough to complete the training.
“But in the army, you have to have a lot of self motivation. I think that’s what got me through,” she said.
While SFC Williams’ self motivation carried her through training, she said she also developed one of life’s most important virtues while serving in the Army: “Discipline is one of the biggest things I learned. If I didn’t join the Army, I wouldn’t be as disciplined as far as physical fitness and general discipline in life, making sure that everything is organized. Now I follow my schedule all the time.”
SFC Williams’ schedule for her life and short term goals are to complete her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and immediately start a master’s program in counseling. Her long term goals are to attain the rank of Command Sergeant Major, retire with 20 plus years of service and continue to work for the Army as a civilian counselor for soldiers and family members.
She stressed that she believes education is the biggest reward from joining the military: “You only have to sign up for four years. When you complete that, even if you no longer want to extend your contract, you can get out with your G.I. Bill, which will pay for a college degree. Then you won’t have to pay for anything. That’s the biggest benefit.”
SFC Williams is currently a senior at Troy University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, while being married to husband, Anthony and mother to son Malcolm.
“Being in the Army helped me to become a stronger and more dedicated person, for my family as a spouse and as a mom,” she said.
Aside from school and family, the human resources specialist continues to serve the Army as a recruiter in Long Beach, CA. And because she experienced the same hesitation from her own parents, she had this to say to parents of young hopefuls who are wanting to sign up to the U.S. Military: “Para sa mga parents nang mga applicants na gustong mag-sign up, they should know that in the Army, we get all the training we need. Your kids will be trained and taken care of. There’s nothing to worry about because we are trained for everything that we do. We are prepared.”
Stressing the misconception that all who enlist in the Army go to combat, SFC Williams said there are several job opportunities in the in the U.S. Military: “If you join the army, you’ll get a job, whether HR, engineer, whatever it is you qualify for. That’s your career. That’s your specific role in the army.”
And as added benefit which may be useful to Filipinos, “Some people who join without their citizenship, they will get their citizenship pretty fast,” SFC Williams added.
MAVNI is Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest. Qualified applicants must posses proficiency in one or more of the languages listed in the program. They have to have been in the US for at least 2 years with legal status, and must satisfy the basic requirements for joining the Army: must be 17-35 years old; at least a high school graduate; must have a Valid visa, be a citizen or green card holder. There are some law violations that are not qualified for the army, some medical issues and physical requirements. The U.S. Army also has a tattoo policy.
“When applicants join through MAVNI, part of processing is language test – listening and speaking. If they pass and they join, it takes about 4-6 months before they ship out to basic training and during basic training, they get their citizenship,” SFC Williams said and added that she wants to encourage more Filipinos to enlist.
“Sa tingin ko dapat mas marami pang Filipinos sa US Army. We’re known for our discipline and our drive. The Army will benefit if there are more Filipinos who are hard-working and are always willing to help out the team to be successful,” said SFC Williams.
With all the benefits and lifelong values one learns from the Army, as manifested by SFC Williams who’s also a recent recipient of the Sgt. Audie Murphy Award, it seems that no matter what combat environment a soldier gets assigned to; or what job he or she fulfills within the organization, there’s only winning in the military. For more information, log on to: www.goarmy.com. Or call (562) 496-3815.