Army mule shoos away TCC freshman blues
by Jason Albus
reporter

Uncle Sam has done Shama Warner a favor, sort of.
Warner’s college education is going to be fully paid, but for now, college is on hold while Warner is serving her county on active duty in Germany.
Warner planned to start her sophomore year at TCC this semester, but the war in Iraq changed her plans and left her more than a year away from that goal.
After completing the ACT and beginning freshman registration, she was called up in January 2003 and deployed to Landstuhl, Germany, along with 300 soldiers from the 94th General Hospital in Seagoville.
“I was ready to finally start college,” she said.
“I was very excited and had already picked out my classes when we received the orders,” she added.
Warner was sent on a one-year deployment last March.
Since there was no way to complete the semester, she quit planning for school and started packing for Germany.
“I joined the Army Reserves after graduating high school. I thought it sounded like a good way to pay for school, and it was going to be only one weekend a month and a two-week session per year,” she said. “That was back in 1997.”
January 11, 2003, was supposed to be the end of Warner’s enlistment.
“The war created a stop-loss on my specialty and forced me to stay in,” she said.
Warner said that the stop-loss measure prevents any military reservist personnel from exiting the military. It is meant to ensure proper troop levels in times of crisis.
With a specialty in mental health, Warner works in the psychology ward dealing with soldiers suffering mental trauma or disorders.
Soldiers from bases in the Middle East and Europe are sent to her base in Landstuhl for advanced medical and psychological care, Warner said.
“My job is very fulfilling. I get to help all of the soldiers who come to us from Iraq and Afghanistan. These are the ones who do not show up in the news reports. It can be quite a challenge,” she said.
Despite the hardships, the call-up has provided Warner some long-term benefits.
“I ended up getting promoted to sergeant while we were here. Because we are deployed in wartime, we all get full veterans benefits,” she said.
Warner has set new goals for her return in early March.
“I can finally get started in school, and it will all be paid for by the G.I. bill,” she said.
“I’m going to re-apply to TCC for summer semester to try and accelerate things a bit,” she said.
As one would expect, Warner’s duty has not been easy for her.
“It has been very difficult to be away from my friends and family, especially during the holidays. We work a lot over here, and I have only been back to the United States for eight days,” she said.
Warner does worry about having to change her plans again.
“I never thought we would be deployed for a full year, and there have been rumors we may stay longer or be redeployed to Iraq after we get home for 90 days,” she said. “But we are all hoping for an end to this war. It is unfair for anybody to have to place their life on hold this long.”