Greetings from Afghanistan

Matt Unrau

Three years ago Lorinda Pavlik was waitressing at the Rimrock Lodge in Thompson Falls thinking of how to pay for her upcoming college tuition. Now, she’s living in a floating city on the other side of the world in the Gulf of Oman receiving and storing parts for fighter jets flying daily and nightly missions into Southern Afghanistan.

It was at the Rimrock Lodge three years ago that Pavlik first was introduced to the idea of being in the Navy. It was there that a recruitor met with her brother, who also ended up joining the Navy within two weeks of her sister. Through those meetings Pavlik realized how beneficial the Navy could be towards her future plans.

So, she enlisted with Uncle Sam and became a member of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, the newest and largest aircraft carrier in the Pacific Fleet. Although, her current address lists her as a resident of an aircraft carrier, she now lives in a bigger town than hometown. The 97,000 tons of floating steels holds 4,500 residents spread out above and below a 4 1/2 acre flight deck.

“We are a floating city,” says Lieutenant Ron Slanders in a telephone interview from the aircraft carrier off the shore of Pakistan. Along with the high population the ship has a movie theatre, zip code, barber shop, tv station and newspaper. In the bottom of the ship lies two nuclear power plants powering the ship and all of its features, and on top of all of this the ship has its own airport with 60 aircraft.

Pavlik’s post in all of this is in the aviation supply room storing parts for the planes. “Her job is very critical to our combat readiness,” says Lieutenant Slanders. The planes that she supplies fly into Afghanistan as part of operation “Enduring Freedom” supporting coalition troops that get into trouble and have to pick up the phone and call for help.

Even though its her fourth deployment since 2006 Pavlik still remembers the inner shock she had when she first stepped off the bus as a fresh enlistee. “I wasn’t a girl from a small town anymore. I’m now in the Navy.” The shock didn’t just end there, but expanded as she first saw herself floating on the other side of the world from her family and everything that was familiar. “It’s kind of indescribable,” says Pavlik. “It kind of takes your breath away.”

Not only is her physical location vastly different, but her mind is different. Beginning with personal reasons of wanting to “broaden my scope and see the world,” Pavlik now has a changed mindset. “It changes your mind from being so self-centered to defending your county and knowing what you have to do,” says Pavlik regarding her patriotic mindset.

This is a mindset that differs from everyday life, coming into play when she is deployed on a mission and having to become mentally combat ready. She says it’s a mindset that necesitates her taking care of business before she leaves and knowing what she has to and having to be ready for anything.

Despite these changes she has not only survived this new world, but thrived in it. Being a woman on a ship that is 80% male, Pavlik made E-5 in only three years, an enlisted rank that usually takes about five years to attain. “For a woman that is very rare,” says Matthew. At the same time that she made E-5, becoming Petty Officer Second Class, she was awarded a Good Conduct Medal for three years of exceptional service. Also, in the same month she won a Navy Achievement Medal. But, perhaps her biggest award is her Sailor of the Day award in November of 2006, which her mom calls a “huge honor” considering the fact that she competes against 4,500 other sailors. Standing out in a crowd is a familiar challenge for Pavlik as she has six brothers and five sisters, and she is sandwhiched right in the middle of all of them.

Although, her mother Judy Matthew bursts with pride over the accomplishment of her daughter the distance is still hard on her. “You want to see your kid do well…but, it’s hard. Thank God for the internet, we talk on the internet almost every day,” says Matthew who constantly emails her daughter.

Matthew says she cried on the day her daughter enlisted, and is both proud and scared for her daughter’s. She is proud of the fact that her daughter is serving her country, and a little relieved that she joined the Navy instead of another branch that requires her to be on the ground.

For her part, what she began with mixed emotions three years ago is now on the verge of becoming a career. As she will soon begin her shore duty, Pavlik will be able to start earning college credits while in the Navy. Because of this, she plans on reenlisting at the end of her duty. More than anything else Pavlik appreciates the personal growth she has received from the Navy. “It really challenges you to be a better person,” says Pavlik.

Despite her achievement Pavlik says that she still misses Plains, her hometown that she hasn’t seen for 1 1/2 years. In a mutual feeling, once she gets back the first person she wants to see is her mother who she can talk to not over email seperated by thousands of miles of shifting water, but face to face on the solid ground of the Clark Fork Valley.