March 31, 2008

Kathy Brown: A chronicle in courage

By Roy Mitchell

Maybe it was growing up with four older brothers. Maybe it was the influence of almost four years of Army training. Or maybe Kathy Brown was just born with more resilience than most mortals, a resilience clearly exhibited one dangerous day last December.

On Dec. 4, 2007, Kathy, a 2003 graduate of Cedar Bluff High School, was serving with a Counter Improvised Explosive Devise Branch in Kabul, Afghanistan. That morning, Kathy drove the lead truck in a two-vehicle convoy toward Kabul International Airport. Well-tuned and well-trained to dangerous scenarios in the streets of Afghanistan, she allowed an Afghan National Army convoy ahead of her at an intersection.

“I stayed about 50 to 60 meters behind the [Afghan] convoy, thinking that they would be a bigger and easier target.”

She astutely observed that local shops were open with Afghan civilians mingling outside, a sign that often indicates a lack of violence.

“If an incident is going to happen, they usually know, so they stay away and close their shops,” she said.

But any comfort aroused by stirring civilians would soon disappear like a desert mirage.

Brown and her convoy soon approached a duo of vehicles parked on the right side of the road. A van sat perched on a jack just behind a Toyota Corolla parked precariously close to the van. Maneuvering cautiously through the non-secure area, Kathy identified the Corolla's license plate number as one from a list of suspicious autos.

Despite the inherent and obvious danger, Kathy's duty and perilous past prevailed over emotion.

“I had little emotion during the incident,” she said. “My life growing up has made me strong. I can see and hear things that most people would be bothered by, but I have no emotion for most things that happen.”

Before Kathy could notify her truck commander of the suspicious license plate, the Corolla veered toward the truck, and the bomb inside it detonated.

“All I can remember is hearing a loud pop -- close to the sound of a balloon, but much louder -- and seeing a huge red flash.”

According to the Center for Defense Information, the explosion directed at Kathy's truck injured 22 innocent Afghans riding a nearby minibus, none fatally. The American soldiers in the convoy, the targets of the bomber's terror, escaped virtually unharmed. Kathy attributes her only injury to the vehicle's air bag exploding and impacting the back of her hand. She was lucky. The very next day in Kabul a car bomb would send 13 to their graves.

After the smoke and chaos cleared, the convoy's second vehicle pushed Kathy's disabled military truck to safety. Kathy couldn't see through her windshield since it was blackened from the explosion.

“As we got to the next safe location, I dismounted the truck and saw the damage for the first time,” she said. “My heart dropped! All I could think of was my children almost lost their mommy.

“As tears filled my eyes, I told myself, 'Get it together. You don't have time to cry. You're a soldier.'”

Yet being a soldier hasn't always appeared on Kathy Brown's career radar.

Many military recruits enlist directly out of high school. But when Kathy graduated from Cedar Bluff, she entered the work force. Her initial career path proved far from smooth. Blaming her teenage temper and attitude, Kathy's employment at a nearby nursing home ended ignominiously.

A year after high school graduation, Kathy found herself with few career options. And by then she also had a daughter, Kloei.

“I had nothing in Cherokee County and wanted to make life better for my daughter. I thought the Army would be the best way for me to do that.”

Fort Monroe, Va. became Kathy's first duty station. While there, she gave birth to her second child, Jaxon.

Upon receiving her Afghanistan deployment, she learned of a drastic shortage of drivers. Despite her trade as an administrative clerk, “I took it upon myself to make...[driving] my specialty...I soon was the best driver from my office and...got to train incoming drivers.”

Kathy's deployment in Afghanistan ended March 3, four months after surviving the car bomb attack. Just days before the dawn of her next duty, a four-star general awarded Kathy a Combat Action Badge. “It's not very common for someone of my rank to get an award pinned by a general, much less a four-star.”

Since March Kathy's duties have shifted from behind the wheel of an Army truck to working behind a desk. As an administrative clerk for a command sergeant major in Germany, she relishes her military life. Army enlistment has not only allowed Kathy Brown occupational security, but her military experiences have defined her.

“I do not regret anything I have done. It all helped make me into me,” she said. “I'm in the Army, and love it.”