A soldier's story: SPC Brenda Medina, M240B Gunner in the 5th BCT Commander's PST, 1st Cav, OIF II.

Specialist (SPC) Brenda G. Medina, 20 years old, from Vacaville, California, was an M240B Gunner and member of the Personal Security Team (PST) guarding a high-payoff target against insurgent attacks during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. SPC Medina was in Iraq from March 2004 until March 2005 guarding the Commander of the 5th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) who was the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery Commander assigned a maneuver brigade area of operations in Baghdad. Her military occupational specialty (MOS) is 71L Administrative Specialist. While working far outside her MOS, she was one of the first women in the 5th BCT in direct combat in Iraq. Her performance highlights her capabilities and adaptability. This is her story.

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The PST's job was to protect the colonel, take him wherever he needed to go. I was selected for the PST because of my roles during exercises we had before we left Fort Hood [Texas]. During our field problems, I was a sniper in the OPFOR [opposing force] and played other roles. The Sergeant Major, with input from his NCOs, selected the team from different MOS.

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Once we were part of the PST, we were assigned our jobs. I was a gunner, and my weapon for the HMMWV [high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle] was the .776-mm M240B. They thought it would be better for me to be on the gun because of my height. I'm five feet, four inches tall. I could shoot pretty well, so I qualified.

There were 11 people on the team who were with the commander at all times: three HMMWV drivers, three gunners, four dismounted guards and the PSO [personal security officer]. I also served as a dismount.

At times it was hard. We were on call 24/7, but we got to see a lot of things and meet a lot of people. It was exciting because we were actually out there; we got to see everything because we were out of the FOB [forward operating base] four or five times a day on raids, patrols, cordon and searches; for meetings and openings of hospitals, schools, sewage treatment plants; and after bombings. We went everywhere.

My first IED experience came after a long time out of the FOB. Early in the morning, we were leaving a cordon and search. There were only three HMMWVs on the road, and we headed back to the FOB to get some sleep I was the gunnor in the first HMMWV.

All of sudden, I heard something explode and ducked down. The IED was close to the far side of the road, so nothing happened to us, but my ears were ringing. The insurgent who planted the IED actually ended up blowing up his legs, but we were all fine.

I think a lot of my experiences were interesting because we got to see things other people didn't get to see. Fore example, if something got bombed, we were right in the middle of the situation, helping the helicopters come down or soldiers that needed our help in any way.

We were there shortly after anyone called, sometimes at three or four in the morning. We had 10 minutes to be on the HMMWVs, ready to go with our guns up. That was pretty interesting; I liked that. We were always "on the go," and it made our time in Iraq go by a lot faster.

Our days were pretty long. They varied, depending on whatever we had to do. The days averaged about 10 hours of operations because we went in and out of the FOB a lot. Sometimes we worked four hours, sometimes it was eight and sometimes it was 16.

On the day of the Iraq National Elections, the PST worked 24 hours. Although I did not work that day--I had hurt my back--I worked the days before the elections. We went to the poll sites to see if everything was ready and secure and to meetings at the DAC [district advisory council] hall.

Once, outside the DAC hall there was a drive-by mortar attack. The insurgents were in a little pick-up truck. One of them was in the back with a mortar tube, and as the truck drove up and stopped, the insurgent shot the mortars before the truck raced off.

That was pretty scary because we had nowhere to run to avoid getting hit by them. As the mortars came in, we all took cover inside the DAC hall and just waited it out, hoping the mortar wouldn't hit the building. The mortar hit a field close to our building. I think that was the most frightened I was in Iraq because we had no place to go. The front of the building was a small space, and they came close to hitting us.

There were other times we had nowhere to run but inside our HMMWVs, which wouldn't really protect us much, when we got attacked by mortars outside the FOB. Those were frightening times because we couldn't do anything about the situation.

There was one other woman in our PST. Of all the PSTs, I think we were the only one that actually had females.

I wasn't really thinking, "Oh, I'm a woman on the frontlines" I just saw it as part of my job. It was kind of special because we got to see and do things that other females didn't because we were on the team and we went out a lot. But everyone was doing what they had to do. It was my job; it was very hard and stressful at times.

If I went back to Iraq, I'd probably want to do the same job again. You feel like you actually are doing something--I mean, everybody does something--but on the PST, you're out there beyond the walls of the FOB, seeing what's going on.

I like the Army. I don't know if I'll stay in, but for the time I'm in, I'll do my best at whatever my job is.