On her personal life:

My mom and stepdad, Randall and Tina Sanders, and brothers and sisters live in Crystal River. My grandparents live in Inverness.

My mom is scared to death. My stepdad is very, very proud. Both are patriotic folks. So the fact that I'm serving our military and I've gone to war - they're very proud.

I'm not married. I do have a boyfriend. He's in Germany, my home base. I was born in Indianapolis but have been in Crystal River 17 years, all but three years of my life.

On fixing the Giant Voice:

I work in a communications squadron. I maintain the handheld radios, the primary means of communication for the mission. We program the radios to read certain frequencies. We also install antennas, so we do a lot of out-in-the-field work.

And we also support the Giant Voice. It's like a big loudspeaker system to alert everybody if there's an attack. A person in our command post makes an announcement over it, letting us know you need to seek immediate overhead cover.

We haven't had too many attacks. So far, I have been lucky - I'm probably going to jinx myself.

On her worst day in Iraq:

I got really scared one time whenwe were actually under attack. A rocket just overshot the base and hit not too far outside our wire. We weren't sure how many more were set to go off towardsthe base. That was a pretty scary incident. That was the only time I haven't been pleased with being here.

And it's just hard being away from home. You miss family. I won't be home before the end of the year, probably closer to mid-January.

On the highlight so far:

I just recently got voted airman of the month for the comm squadron, which is a pretty prestigious thing.

On tents and bugs:

We live in tents. It's not too bad. We have air conditioning, heat. Actually, not too bad. The tents are pretty sturdy. They keep the wind away and the dirt away. There's strictly no eating in our tents to keep the bugs away - the bugs attract larger creatures.

On problems with men and boys:

I've had a couple of incidents [with Iraqi men]. They're not meaning to be mean about it. When they notice that you don't have a ring on your finger, it's very evident that you are not taken. And that's the way they see it: We're more like property than anything else.

They're learning. Like the people on base, they're starting to learn the American culture - that women aren't just property up for grabs.

I have a friend here, when she went off base, she had a little 5-year-old boy tell her that because she did not have a ring, she was his. He told her she had to give him anything that he wanted. She was just appalled by this behavior - you know, this little 5- year-old kid thinking she's property. They just have a different culture altogether.

On personal safety:

If you go off base, you have to have a security force as escort. And you have to be armed with ammo. And you have to have all your gear on and stuff like that. It's not safe to just go off, for leisure, anyway. I have an M-16. It's just ready in case we need it.

We just put them back into the armory. ... As soon as the threat level goes up, they reissue them.

On Iraq's progress:

From what I've seen, I think it's gone pretty well. The foreign nationals I've spoken to here on base, they seem very, very happy for us to be here. We have the Iraqi air force here that we're training. They're very, very receptive.

I really do think it's going great. I wouldn't recommend pulling out. There have been people, more than I can count, that have lost their lives in support of this war. If we just give up and pull out, then those lives have been lost in vain.

This place would go to ruin if we were to pull out now. They're starting to set up their own government. They're not even on their own feet yet. If we were to take out all of our support, it would go to shambles.

I hope [Americans] are not letting prejudice and discrimination overwhelm their thoughts of what's going on over here. A lot of people do have that closed-minded view - Americans should stop helping other people.

Sometimes we take our freedoms for granted. It would be nice for people to stop and think for a moment that they have so many people here in the military, and civilian contractors, giving up their freedom so that Americans can have theirs.

On school and games:

Right now I'm trying to get my CDCs[career development courses] out of the way, to get my college credits, so I can start taking more college classes. And we have different training we have to complete for our jobs.

Pretty much what it is, is work. But we play a bunch of cards. Watch a lot of movies. We have a place called the Hot Spot, with accessibility to pool tables, Foosball tables and different board games.

On dreams come true:

I was burned out on school. I knew that if I took a year off [after high school], then it would be that much harder to get started again. So I went ahead and joined the Air Force, and they've taken pretty good care of me ever since. I've been in Iraq about two months.

I talk back home to people about friends I went to high school with. They're struggling, trying to pay for college. Struggling going through college. Or they're still living at home with mom and dad, not knowing what they want to do. You know, getting stagnant. It makes me very sad.

I've got a steady paycheck, great benefits. I'm touring Europe. I have everything that I could possibly dream of right now. It's just amazing.

Keyword: Commentary, to read other recent Voices From The Front stories and more on the media coverage of Iraq. The Tribune arranges these interviews with service members through U.S. Central Command.

LB:

LB: CORRECTION

An incorrect address was listed in an earlier interview with Coast Guard Lt. Arthur Ray. His address is USCGC AQUIDNECK (WPB-1309), FPO AE 09564-3952.