Oral History Interview with Leta Odom

Segment Synopsis: In this interview segment, Leta Odom describes some of her basic biographical details and her early training in the army. She cites her reason for joining the army as simply a desire to take her life in a different direction. She also mentions that she had an uncle who had served in Vietnam. In terms of her training, she said that it was not as difficult as she had been led to believe by others, and that her training class was also very diverse and gave her the opportunity to meet new kinds of people. She notes that her family has supported her while she has been serving but they did not want her to go.

Keywords: Basic Training; Frankfort, KY; Kentucky State University; Veteran Family Members

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Leta discusses her time at her first duty station in Germany. She notes that she did not get the sense that her race mattered as much in Germany as it did in the United States, and that she encountered a number of Africans while she was there. She mentions that she traveled extensively through the different parts of Germany at the time, and had the opportunity to visit Italy.

Keywords: Germany; Italy; Race; Racism; Travel

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Leta discusses her participation in the Gulf War as a member of an Aviation Support Brigade. She says that an attack helicopter unit was the first of her brigade to relocate to Saudi Arabia, and that is how they knew they would likely be moving as well. She discusses her impressions of Saudi Arabia when she arrived, including the differences between Saudi and American women. She also describes her work with the Aviation Support Brigade and how they acted as a mobile support and resupply station that worked in the area between the bases and the front line. She also describes experiences moving out at night and how they were largely separated from the rest of their brigade.

Keywords: Aviation Support; Cultural Differences; Gulf War; Night Travel; Saudi Arabia

Segment Synopsis: In this section, Leta describes the ceasefire ending the Gulf War and what the rest of her first tour of duty consisted of. She recalls that they remained in Saudi Arabia for a long time, but that she was sent back to Germany in May 1991. After returning to Germany, she married a fellow service member who she had been dating since they met in Germany before the war. After spending two years in the military, she was transferred to Fort Hood in Texas and spent about a year there but was less interested in the work placement they had assigned her to at that base. While in Texas she re-enlisted and was sent back to Germany for her second tour.

Keywords: Fort Hood; Germany; Gulf War Ceasefire; Marriage; Re-Enlistment; Saudi Arabia; Texas

Segment Synopsis: Leta discusses her second tour in Germany which was in Mannheim. She mentions that she traveled a lot during this time to places such as the French Riviera, Berlin, and Amsterdam. She says she did not learn to speak German during her time in the country. After two more years in Germany during her second tour, she was moved to Kansas, although she was not at that station very long. She implies that her short stay in Kansas was related to the untimely death of her husband in a car crash during 1994 and her subsequent unwillingness to give herself the time to recover from the event.

Keywords: Amsterdam; Berlin; French Riviera; Germany; Grief; Kansas

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Leta discusses joining the National Guard in 1996 in Frankfort, Kentucky. She says that the National Guard was a good opportunity for her to work part time while completing a degree in Social Work at Kentucky State University. She says that the rank structure of the National Guard was different from that of Active Duty, and that advancement was more reliant on who you know rather than your merit or seniority. National Guard also had many fewer African Americans and Leta notes that only two in her 70 or 80 person National Guard unit were African American. She mentions that it seems African Americans are more likely to join the Reserves rather than the National Guard because career advancement for African Americans is perceived as less likely in the latter.

Keywords: African American Servicemembers; Frankfort, Kentucky; Kentucky State University; Merit; National Guard; Racial Inequality; Reserves; Social Work

Segment Synopsis: In this last segment, the interviewer notes that they have largely arrived at the present in the narrator's story. Leta says that she wants to return to Active Duty and move to Texas to join a Joint Support Operation. The narrator and interviewer discuss her future plans and Leta says she wants to remain in the military at least seven more years to attain National Guard retirement benefits, and perhaps six more in addition to that in order to earn Active Duty retirement benefits. The interview ends with a reflection on Leta's impression of the military overall. She says that it is a good opportunity for structure and building a personal network, but that one does have to talk to people because there are things about the military you only learn from talking to other servicemembers. She suggests that many men would benefit from the structure that the military provides and says it provides men with a level of integrity they may have previously lacked. She closes by noting that there are still obstacles for people of color in the military, especially within the National Guard.

Keywords: Active Duty; Integrity; Joint Support Operation; Military Retirement; National Guard; Network; Racial Inequality; Racial Inequality in the Military; Structure; Texas