http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/E9755E1F2EC61591852572A10000E214?opendocument

Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story by: Computed Name: Lance Cpl. R. Drew Hendricks
Story Identification #: 200731619938

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII(March 16, 2007) -- Since Aug. 13, 1918, women have answered the call and have earned the title Marine. Opha Mae Johnson was the first woman to don the eagle, globe and anchor, and women continue to wear the device today. Sergeant Amanda Harquail, administration chief for Marine Air Group 24, is one of today’s women in the Marine Corps.

“I can’t say enough good things about her,” said Capt. Conor Overstake, administration officer-in-charge, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463. “She has all the attributes of what a Marine should be.”

Harquail, a native of Haleyville, Ala., joined the Marine Corps in August 2001. Since her enlistment she has served in Okinawa with 3rd Force Service Support Group, working in various administrative billets throughout the country. She is still in the administrative field, but she is now assigned to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.

Her job at the MAG is to process paperwork for assignments, awards, promotions, and more.

“We take care of our guys so they can take care of the ‘birds,’” she said, referring to the group’s CH-53D “Sea Stallion” helicopters.

According to her boss, her diligence, dedication and motivation are what her leaders say set her apart from others.

“There are a lot of moving parts in the squadron right now. The operation tempo is high,” said Overstake. “She is doing an excellent job, working with about a dozen computer-based systems and managing the task load that comes along with it.”

For Harquail, joining the Marine Corps was a test of will and a chance to prove to those who doubted she could make it in the Corps that she could.

“The drive to push on and prove all those people wrong came from my mother,” said Harquail. “The discipline to stick with it came from my dad.”

Harquail said, like many women who have come before her, she has had her challenges.

“The hardest thing for a female Marine is having to continually prove yourself, because you are looked upon, by some, as the ‘weak link,’” she said. “So, you have to keep pushing and drive on.”

She went on to say that even though there are differences between male and female Marines, both are equal in the areas that matter.

“I don’t think there is a difference between females and males when it comes to doing our job,” she added. “We all get the job done.”

“We deployed to Iraq together,” said Harquail of her husband Sgt. Mitchell Harquail, administrative clerk, S-3. “It was good because we were able to experience that with each other and were able to be there for each other.”

Harquail said that she and her husband first met when they were going through gas chamber training.

“I had forgotten the inserts for my mask, and I am pretty much blind without my glasses,” she admitted. “He sat down next to me, offered me some gum and said, ‘I’ll help you through.’”

Once they both returned from Iraq, Mitchell proposed to her at the Marine Corps Ball in front of their entire unit. The unit was present for their marriage in January.

Harquail said she has no problem balancing being a wife with being a Marine and there is no rivalry or problems with her and her husband being in the military. She said that in some cases, it has actually helped.

“The only thing we argue about really is whose job is harder,” she said, laughing.

Harquail said that she believes the Marine Corps has given her many opportunities and has helped her develop not just as a Marine but as a person as well.

“It helped me find myself,” she said. “I joined when I was 18 years old, so I didn’t know what was going on or what I was going to do.”

According to Harquail, the Marine Corps has helped in every aspect of her life. It has given her more willpower, has helped her to be open minded, and has helped her to find out what she wanted from life.

One person she said has helped her realize her importance as a Marine is Sgt. Maj. Karl Villalino, sergeant major, HMH-463.

“For the first time in five years, he was the first one who did not make me feel like the weak link,” she said.
While on active duty, she attended college and now has plans to move forward into a new aspect of her life — working in justice administration.

With a few years of the Corps behind her, Harquail said she now understands the commitments made by the women who came before her and encourages other women to step up and work hard for what they want.

“Don’t let anything stand in your way,” she said. “Always keep your will strong, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.”

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Sergeant Amanda Harquail, administrative chief, Marine Aircraft Group 24, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, may not fly or work on the helicopters in her squadron, but without her there would be no one to fly the machines. "We take care of our guys, so they can take care of the birds," she said. [Photo by: Lance Cpl. R. Drew Hendricks]

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