As the reigning Miss Utah and as a combat medic who has deployed to Afghanistan with her National Guard unit, Sgt. Jill Stevens said her experiences as a soldier have helped her in her civilian life.

In an interview on the “ASY Live” program on BlogTalkRadio.com, Stevens said her experience from November 2003 to April 2005 taking care of up to 40 patients on any given day at the Bagram Air Base medical aid station gave her the determination and adaptability that are paramount to her success in other aspects of her life.

“Being a solider, you are really trained to adapt to any situation,” she said, “and it has really prepared me for civilian life.”

Stevens, who serves in the Utah National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, joined the National Guard in 2001. She said her military life and her civilian life aren’t as different as some people might think.

“A lot of people think these paths are so different and that I live a dichotomy, but there’s a reason I am involved in both organizations,” she said. “Both the military and the Miss America Association promote education [and] teach you to be a leader, think on your feet and stay in shape and, above all, to serve your country,” she said.

During her service in Afghanistan, Stevens said, she developed a great deal of pride for her country, particularly for the women who serve in the military. During her deployment, she competed in the inaugural marathon race at Bagram and was the first woman to finish. Stevens now has completed 14 marathons, and she said the one in Afghanistan “was one of the toughest.”

“Here I was a woman, running in a country where women were mistreated, defiled and oppressed. … I was angered as I was running, but at the same time proud — proud to be not only an American woman but an American soldier fighting for their worth,” she said.

She said she thought of Afghanistan’s women every step of the way, and it carried her to the finish line.

“We are making a difference,” she said. “I know these women are realizing their worth, and some are taking a stand to determine their place in the world.”

During her deployment, Stevens said, it was important to keep morale high for the continued strength of the force.

“I was there to take care of the physical injuries,” she said, “but I also really saw the emotional side. I saw firsthand that keeping the morale high really helps our soldiers perform better.”

“ASY Live” on BlogTalkRadio.com is part of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which connects citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. Stevens recalled the touches from home that helped her most during her deployment.

“Thoughtful gifts meant a lot to me — favorite foods or an encouraging e-mail was great, [because] it meant so much that they took time to think about me,” she explained. She took the importance of boosting morale a step further with her own personal cause to encourage her fellow servicemembers.

“Since we had electricity over there, I was like, ‘Mom, send me a bread machine!’ she said. “Whenever I heard they were having a rough day, I baked bread for the soldiers … just to boost their spirits.”

Another important memory of her deployment, Stevens said, was the opportunity to interact with local children despite the language barrier.

“You speak different languages; you’ve grown up in really different cultures,” she said. “We would communicate with the kids by smiling and making funny faces.”

Back in the United States after her deployment, Stevens acknowledged, she had the wrong idea about pageants before she got involved in that aspect of her life.

“All I thought these girls did was just wave their hand and look pretty, and that was not something I wanted to be associated with,” she said.

That was before she learned that pageant titleholders can make a difference by their ability to serve as spokeswomen and form organizations. “I love to serve, I love to give back,” she said. “That’s why I am a soldier and a nurse.”

The realization that a pageant title could help her make a difference, Stevens said, is when she “learned how to put on make-up instead of camouflage paint.”

Stevens said she was impressed by the support she received from other soldiers when she decided to pursue the Miss America title.

“I have brothers and sisters around the world that are so supportive, and I know that whatever it is, they’ve got your back,” she said.

During her pageant, she recalled, 100 soldiers were in the audience, cheering her on. “I didn’t know half of them,” she said, “but they came to support another soldier.

This continued support from her “family” of servicemembers is now an important part of who she is and will help keep her focused toward her next goal, said Stevens, who will hold her Miss Utah title until July.

“There is so much negative publicity on the news today, and optimism is important,” she said. Looking forward, Stevens said, she will rely on her military experience and connection to maintain her optimism and carry her into her next endeavor.

“Wherever you go, if you wear the uniform or sport the military ID card, you connect with people immediately,” she said. “I know that will always be a part of me.”

DoD
By Jamie Findlater
Special to American Forces Press Service

Tomorrow is the big night. Here are some of the latest links about GI Jill:

The Spectrum: Jill Stevens tries to relax before Miss America finale

Film.com: The Missed Potential of Miss America Reality Check

Davis County Clipper: Next battle for Stevens: Miss America

My Sunshine: Let the Games Begin

The Dougherty Family: There He Is

Utah State VA Blog: Miss Utah not your Stereotypical Pageant Contestant

Karly Staples: Exciting Utah News

worse, the Miss America Pageant.

Southern Utah University reports:

To show appreciation and support for Jill Stevens, a send-off party will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall at the R. Haze Hunter Conference Center. The send-off party is sponsored by SUU Public Relations, Alumni & Friends, administration and SUUSA.

(more…)

UPDATE: The DVIDS command have been in contact, and have been very gracious. This is an extremely useful product for the media, and I have been assured that they will hold to their statements on site that all materials are in the public domain. I appreciate the efforts made by these folks and I have no problem with them at all. 2-21-2008

In Dad’s Army, there was a creature called a REMF. It was generally a soldier who was in the rear and used his power for anything but the benefit of the troops on the line.

I do not characterize this non-com as an REMF.

I featured Missouri National Guard Soldier Spc. Sarah Lupescu in my catgory Our Best: Babe Edition.

This morning I received the following:

Good morning,

Mr Simmins it has been brought to my attention that you regularly use products from the DVIDSHUB Website for your blog which is fine. However I have received some complaints about the use of some of the photo’s , mainly the titling of females service members as “Babes”. While I cannot tell you and do not desire to tell you what to post on your blog as a service member I would like to ask you to refrain from addressing female service members as babes.

In addition as the Non-Commissioned Officer in charge I can deny you access to our site. Please try and keep in mind that these ladies have families and friends, they themselves maybe uncomfortable having their pictures displayed in such a manner for the world to see. Take for instance SPC lupescu she is 19 yrs old and she made it clear to me that she is not comfortable at all with her photo being posted for use on a personal blog without her permission. It is unprofessional and I highly discourage the display of any service member in anything other than a professional light. Thank you for your time and assistance

I’ve done a search, and I am the only site outside DVIDS that has used the image and caption, which was reported accurately. The image was one of two at DVIDS from the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Here’s my reply:

Col. yyyyy, please be aware that I find Sgt. xxxxx’s e-mail highly insulting and presumptuous.

I use a variety of media products from all levels of the armed services to produce America’s North Shore Journal. DVIDS is but one. Had Sgt. xxxxx taken more than a moment to read my on-line magazine, he would have seen that I regularly publish material that may be found at no other non-military site. I support the military as strongly as any other publication in the United States.

All of the material I use from DoD sources is labeled as free for use, or free for use with attribution. I presume that I would not have access to material not intended for publication.

I am sorry that SPC Lupescu feels the way she does. I have changed the title of the post to read Our Best: Show Me State Edition.

The Our Best: Babe Edition category was created to highlight the women of the military who are doing their jobs and doing them well. I have received many comments from friends and relatives grateful that I featured their daughter or sister. In the time I have been posting these stories and photos it has become clear that few of them will ever appear anywhere but on a military site or on my magazine.

I have working with PAO’s in theater, and with DoD staffers for some time. Just today, I was part of an interview with Major General Lynch in Baghdad. It is not and never has been my intent to insult anyone in the military.

As for “unprofessional”, I would suggest that an Army that promotes GI Jill on her own army.mil website as Miss Utah could surely be generous and overlook the use of the term “babe”.

Should Sgt. xxxxx feel it necessary to ban me from DVIDS, so be it. Most of the material I publish comes from other sources. And, he will have been successful in offending a friend to the Army and to the United States military.

Here is the latest:

You are entitled to your own opinion and it is unfortunate that you are insulted, that however was never the intention of my email my point was about the titles being used to feature female service members being unprofessional. I see no post about male soldiers being referred to as Hunks or studs. In the military we pride ourselves on professionalism and would never refer to a female soldier as a babe, to a service member that is disrespectful simple as that. Having worked with numerous public affairs specialist this should be common knowledge.

If you read my email sir I never once implied that you where anti-military, anti-war or insulted anyone my concern and responsibility is to the integrity of the US Army and DVIDS period. Mr Simmins again the only reason I contacted you at all was because I received a number of complaints and not just from the young SPC her entire Chain of Command from commander on down shared their displeasure. Like I disclosed initially you are entitled to your opinion, however so is everyone else and not everyone shares your view.

Note that Lupescu is a member of the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. If this is the manner in which this unit deals with the media…

Let’s face facts. Nobody in the world is ever going to read about the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and Spc. Lupescu in the N.Y. Times or see them on CNN. I’m really sorry that I even though that there was a story here worth publicizing.

As for DVIDS, I dislike being threatened by non-coms. I have been approached in the past to remove certain publicly available information from stories at the request of the individuals involved. I would certainly have considered doing so in this case had Lupescu or ANYONE in her chain of command contacted me. You know, the people running the “Public Affairs Detachment”.

Instead, I received not one, but two poorly written e-mails containing a threat to remove my access to publicly available information. FYI, here is the DVIDS policy:

Information presented on or via DVIDS is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

Were I a real SOB, I would file a FOIA request for all communications, written or electronic, from the DVIDS office concerning the use of DVIDS materials.