When U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Sarada Kalpee enlisted, she envisioned doing only one round of service.
“When I first joined, I originally thought, I’m going to do my 6 years, I’m going to get out, it’s just a temporary thing. When I was in and I met such amazing people, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with my job, with the humor, with the people, just the since of pride. I fell in love with all of it, so here I am 13 years later still in.”
Kalpee enlisted in October 2002 after her cousin was trapped in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Her sister enlisted exactly a year to the date after. Ever since, she has had a strong since of dedication to the job and to her fellow veterans.
Along with being an active member of the Reserves, Kalpee has been working as a Veterans Service Officer at Boston Veterans’ Services for the past 14 months. The job came to her through a friend who knew she was struggling to find work. As it turned out, the position was the perfect fit.
“I know me, and I cannot work for civilians. I have to take care of my own, that’s where my heart is. So I applied for the job. I love it. I need it.”
Her time in the Army Reserves has been equally rewarding, allowing her to serve in many different positions throughout her years of service.
“My rank right now is Staff Sergeant. For the past 13 years, I’ve been either a Platoon Sergeant, or a Motor Sergeant, Senior Mechanic… My job in the Army is an All-Wheel Mechanic. Right now, [in] my current unit, I am an instructor. That’s my M.O.S. [Military Occupation Specialty].”
Kalpee has traveled to many different states throughout the country, mostly to schools to fulfill her instructor duties. She has also been oversees for a deployment to Afghanistan that ended up being an extremely challenging yet influential experience for her.
“I deployed with a Combat Engineer unit from Idaho. I was 1 of 3 females out of 130 people. So it was a little rough. I experienced sexism. I experienced racism because, [with] a group of guys from Idaho, they definitely weren’t ready for having a colored female in their ranks. On top of that, out of 130, I think I out-ranked 110 of them. So it was difficult emotionally, but you learn, you overcome.”
Her overall passion for the job allowed her to move past this discrimination. Despite 12 hour night shifts, she felt satisfied with the work she was doing oversees and would be willing to do it all again.
“As far as my job was concerned, the extent of what I learned was amazing. Sleep deprivation was [also] amazing, but I think the adrenaline from learning something new, meeting new people kept me going. A year went by really fast. I am one of those people, out of many, that say I would go back to Afghanistan in a heartbeat. I loved it.”
What also kept her going during her deployment was the thought of her family back home. As a mother of two, Kalpee says her number one priority is caring for her children.
“No matter what I went through, it was always: maintain focus on raising my children. I’m here for a job [and] I’m going home to my children; I’m not going home with these soldiers.”
Skype was the main form of communication Kalpee would use to stay in touch with her children. While the time difference and her long shifts made staying awake challenging, she took advantage of every interaction with her kids.
“I think the best memory I have was when I would Skype the kids and I would tell my daughter [who was 7 at the time], ‘Mommy is so tired. I just got off a 12 hour shift. I’m laying in bed.’ I told [her], ‘Read me a story until I fall asleep. And if I fall asleep, just shut your computer and it automatically shuts my computer off.’ So she literally read me stories until I fell asleep and then I would message her the next day.”
Kalpee was so excited to be reunited with her family after returning home. However, things weren’t entirely smooth sailing. Anger issues from her time oversees made adjusting back into her everyday life a bit more of a challenge.
“My little sister was in Iraq before I went to Afghanistan, and when she came home, she had massive anger issues. So my mother told me, when you come home, you’re moving into my house with the kids. She said, I saw what your sister went through and you’re not going to take your issues out on the children. A month into me coming home, my son [who had just turned 5], said you curse a lot. It takes strength for my children to tell me that, so I got it in check. It took some time, but you learn to put your anger on the back burner, especially when you’re dealing with it with people that don’t deserve it.”
Now, as an employee of Boston Veterans’ Services, Kalpee spends her days helping to recognize the service and sacrifice of our military veterans and their families.
“[This organization] is a blessing. I have seen veterans that would otherwise commit suicide or be homeless and living on the street. I’ve seen so much help from this department. And then, I’ve also seen the opposite where I want to punch [some people] in the face because they’re being lazy and they don’t want to help themselves. This is a handout to them. So there’s opposite sides of it, but overall, I’m glad this department is here.”
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