Life After Training...

 

After going through extensive basic training in the Army, Cate's next move was to take a little break. Probably needing it after going through intense training, Cate was issued thirty days paid vacation which she enjoyed relaxing. She didn't work during this period, she wanted some time off before heading off to Advanced Infantry Training.

Advanced Infantry Training is the next step for anybody continuing on in the Army. This is where people get trained specifically for the type of job that they will be doing. Cate described AIT as:

"School with a physical aspect"

In the AIT she went through more training that was more job specific. The service personnel still got down and dirty learning things that would make them experts in their fields. When Cate was first deciding what kind of job she wanted to train for she was leaning towards counter-intelligence. Then an offer came and a job was approved for her in the Central Intelligence Division of the Army.

Cate continued to go through more job specific training. The specific training included learning about different weapons that different countries use, learning about the chain of command used in other countries, and she was able to:

"recognize what you are actually facing."

Through being part of the Central Intelligence Division in the Army, Cate not only traveled throughout the United States, but she was also fortunate enough to travel around the world. There were many women who worked in the Central Intelligence Division. Cate never felt like a minority and never recalls being discriminated against. She said that even the father of the CIA, General Donovan, had female spies working for him. Ever since there has been war there have been females involved.

Women in the CIA and CID was "not uncommon or unheard of."

 

Leaving the Army

While in the Army, Cate met her future husband. The couple later married ,which started to pose a tough situation for them. They could have been faced with having to go on "hardship duties", which Cate explained as when an inidivual gets an assignment somewhere where they couldn't bring any of their family members. This would have been a tough thing for a young married couple to deal with. After about two years of marriage while still in the Army, Cate started to think about the idea of retiring.

"Just because you're married, doesn't mean that you will be stationed together."

Cate and her husband started considering having a family. This was another factor that added to Cate's consideration of retiring. It is hard enough having children, but having children while both parents are in the military was probably a very difficult concept. Cate didn't want to have to end up leaving the children with family members and missing parts of their childhood. After about two years Cate decided that it would be best for her to retire from the Army and start a new chapter of her life.

Although Cate decided to retire and have children, her husband remained in the military for many years after. This meant a lot of traveling for Cate and the family. They traveled to many different military bases all over the United States. For example, Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, Fort Stuart, and Fort Jackson. Cate and her husband ended up having four children, one of whom is in the military today.

Throughout Cate's adventures in basic training and in her job at the CID, she had developed some long lasting friendships with people whom she still keeps in touch with today. She became so close with these people because they spent so much time together they were "basically family." These family members were very supportive when loved ones were out of the country. These friends were there for the birth of her children and would be at her side at the drop of a hat if she called them and just said "I need you."

After returning home for a period of time Cate decided that she wanted to go back to college. That is how she ended up here at Elmira College. When asked if she has carried anything with her that she learned in the Army she replied,"

"If I put my mind to something there pretty much isn't anything I can't achieve for myself. I've done a lot of things since then basically only because I knew I could. You know that you can do things for yourself and you're less likely to lean on other people."