Deployed army dental soldier experiences realities of combat and helping those in need.

United States Army dental technicians can be stationed in a number of places around the world. Though they often work in military dental clinics, they too may be deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

For one soldier, Spc. Melonie A. Williams, being deployed proved exciting and offered her the chance to use her skills outside of a garrison environment.

No ordinary soldier, Williams exceeded Army standards by winning a Soldier of the Month board, becoming promotable to sergeant and being accepted to Officer Candidate SchooL She accomplished all this while serving in Afghanistan.

Williams sent the following letter to fellow soldiers, family members and friends. As you will read, life is less than ordinary for this extraordinary young dental soldier.

I hope everyone is doing well; it's been a while since I've talked to some of you. Sorry my messages have been few and far between, but it's been one crazy month for me. In July I had three boards (military boards used for promotion and Soldier of the Quarter/Year) in a matter of 10 days. I had a Soldier of the Month board, a promotion board, and an officer candidate board. It was all worth it in the end though. I'm Soldier of the Month for July (I have another board for Soldier of the Quarter next week) and I'm promotable now. I should get promoted sometime in October. I was also recommended to become an officer. I'm just waiting final approval and a class date.

On top of all the boards, I just returned from an 11-day dental mission called Village Medical Outreach. The mission was a convoy to different villages around southern Afghanistan, using small Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) as a home base. It was quite the experience to say the least; far different from the everyday life that I've grown accustomed to here in quiet Kandahar.

It was the first time I've ever left the perimeter of Kandahar, and I was more than anxious to go. Things got off to an exciting start. We arrived at our first FOB and set up camp, preparing to go to the village down the stream the next day. That night, we got rocketed. Two rockets hit about 150 meters in the mountains right above our vehicles at about 3 a.m. It was quite the wake-up call for all of us, reminding us that we are in enemy territory and that this is "real." I've never seen so many people move so fast to armored vehicles. I was also amazed at how fast our infantry/mortar guys took off, anxious to catch whoever launched the rockets. They didn't find anything or anybody. Needless to say, it kept us on our toes for the remainder of the mission. It also affected our turnout for the mission in the village that day.

The dentist pulled out quite a few teeth. All of the patients were men, since women consider it a status symbol to have their teeth, or what's left of them. Also, their husbands wouldn't allow it. We treated some infections and handed out toothbrushes to all the locals. I think the most interesting one we saw (medically) was leprosy.

I had a chance to talk to some of the women in the village. We were encouraged to talk to them regarding women's rights, voting and other issues. I guess they were/are heavily influenced by the Taliban, who had just been to their village two days prior to our arrival. The stories they were telling me were horrible. I couldn't imagine living a life scared.

Their whole lifestyle is so different. We ended up treating one woman who is 20 years old with five kids! She had been married since she was 10. This was very common in every village we went to. Another woman was telling us of how the Taliban had beaten her husband, they hadn't eaten meat in over a month, and her six- and ten-year-old sons were working in their shops. We ended up giving her some food, albeit MREs (Meals, Ready-to-Eat). For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they're the meals the Army issues when you're out in the field. You always see them in Army movies.

The remainder of the trip was very quiet compared to the beginning. We drove along a dangerous road through a mountain range with approximately four vehicles that were blown up from IEDs (roadside bombs) within the past two weeks. I think that had to be the second scariest part of our mission.

At the last FOB we visited, the guards saw Taliban riding bikes in the distance. Our guys took off to find them, but the Taliban took off too quickly. The thing with the Taliban is they tend to do things from a distance because they don't have enough manpower or the tenacity for confrontation, hence late night rocketing and IEDs. They like to use the scare tactic. If they do get into a firefight, they lose.

We got to visit a number of FOBs to see how the other half lives. The infantry guys live without any electricity or running water and they are setting up everything from scratch. Trust me, being outside in the 120 degree heat with full battle rattle (hard hat, body armor and weapon) and not showering for three or four days at a time, you really start to appreciate all the little amenities that are available to you. That was the one thing that everyone looked forward to--a shower.

Everything else took no time getting used to. It was actually fun sleeping under the stars, talking to everyone, playing cards and listening to music, etc. You quickly form a close bond to those with whom you are traveling. I think the infantry guys also acquired more respect for females. It was the first time they had ever traveled with females, and we had eight of them. It was quite the trip with a lot of memorable experiences. I should be able to go on more dental missions, but who knows when and how many.

Now I'm back to the daily grind trying to catch up on things. I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers, letters, packages, etc. It definitely keeps everyone's morale up knowing that everyone supports us back home. Again, I'm sorry for the delay in the e-mails, as well as the impersonal use of a mass e-mail.

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

NOTE: Spc. Williams hails from Bristol, Conn. She enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 after graduating from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor's Degree in general studies with a focus in Health and Human Services. She attended basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C, and attended her advanced individual training as a dental technician at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Her first duty assignment was with the U.S. Army Dental Clinic, Vicenza, Italy, and she is currently deployed to Afghanistan. Her future goals include getting promoted to sergeant and going to Officer Candidate School. She also plans to prepare for and take the Dental Admissions Test and apply to dental school.

SGM Mack A. Byrd

Europe Regional Dental Command