Norphlet native Christie Ashley knew one thing when she graduated high school in 2007: she wanted to see and experience the world. The Army was her ticket to do just that.
It wasn't always easy, nor was it the obvious choice for Ashley, but after nearly a decade in the service, she said she looks back on her time in the Army with fond memories.
"I don't regret not a single moment that I got to spend doing something that I never thought I would love," Ashley said. "I've traveled the world. I've lived my life."
SLOW START
Ashley, who played basketball and softball but never tried ROTC at Norphlet High School, had already joined the Army by the time she graduated. She said that while she has several veterans in her family, a lot of her relatives were surprised she decided to enlist.
"It was just a willy-nilly, let's do this," she said. "My aunt, I think she was the most surprised out of all. But we had always talked about me going to the Air Force or Army."
She attended boot camp at U.S. Army Fort Jackson, in South Carolina, where Ashley said she started realizing she was in for a challenge.
"It almost felt like a really, really bad gymnast course," Ashley recalled. "With gear on and holding a weapon ... it was way harder than I thought it was going to be. It definitely pushed me to push myself; I had no choice but to."
But she also was able to quickly start connecting with others in her platoon, who, for the most part, also came from Arkansas.
"Most of us were from here, from Arkansas. We kind of all shipped together, so then we moved through the ranks of the military together," she said. "That's probably the coolest part of it all – you got to see those people you started with progress into their futures."
From there, she went to Advanced Individual Training – AIT – at Fort Gregg-Adams, then known as Fort Lee, in Virginia. The Army post was re-named in April, becoming the first Army installation to be named for Black military members.
There, Ashley learned the ins and outs of her job as a supply specialist.
"Basically, we're just the supply-and-demand of the military. We order, we ship, we turn in. We supply it all, from pens to food," Ashley said. "From beans to bullets, literally, that's what we did."
Once she completed her training, Ashley was deployed to Camp Casey in South Korea.
"Which was scary, because that was my first time leaving the country," she said. "They kind of throw a 19-year-old in the streets."
Ashley said her first deployment saw her essentially working a 9-5 like anyone else, enlisted or not. But the responsibility, and hazards, of the job never left her mind, she said. The Iraq war was ongoing for the majority of the time Ashley was enlisted.
"Of course, you're still in a foreign country, so you've got to obtain your bearings," she said. "We were in active wartime, so straight from joining, I knew that there was always a possibility ... that I may go. I have to say, my recruiter never once shied away."
As a young woman, she also had some hesitancy about going out on the town during her first trip overseas.
"I was a little scared. I was afraid to kind of step out on my own," she said. "You're in a foreign place, being so young – you're like 'I'm too nervous.'"
Instead, she found familiar places and spent her free time volunteering.
"If I wanted McDonald's, I went to McDonald's... I loved to volunteer, especially when I served in Korea," Ashley said. "We volunteered at a bunch of the orphanages that way... If you're not in school, if you're not a big traveler, it's kind of like 'What am I going to do on the weekend?' And that was just kind of my outlet."
A year after she arrived in Korea, Ashley was brought back stateside.
SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM
After leaving Korea, Ashley was stationed at Fort Bragg, which is now known as Fort Liberty after Department of Defense officials decided to highlight the U.S. military's commitment to freedom and diversity instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, for whom the post was formerly named.
Ashley remained at Fort Bragg for three years, from 2009 through 2012, and she said there she made lifelong friends.
"That's just something you develop while being in the military. Once you get the relationship, you don't lose it," she said. "Friends become family, no matter where you are, where you go."
And then she was deployed again, back to Camp Casey in Korea.
"It's always the goodbyes that kind of get you," Ashley said. "You know you're going to be there for a year, and you're like, 'Well, I'm not going to be a stranger for a year,' and then you do form these relationships, these friendships."
Once she was back overseas, Ashley was determined to make the most of her time.
"Eventually you're like, 'Where are you going? Yeah let's go, let's go,'" she recalled. "The food and the shopping alone was probably the best part of being in Korea to me. It's unheard of... That second time, I was like, 'Let's go to this Korean restaurant, let's eat this, let's eat that.' and just kind of seeing how diverse their means of food and way of life is."
She's still connected with many of the friends she made in Korea, she said.
"To this day, I still talk to at least three or four of them that I served with," Ashley said. "When they come to the United States, they're like, 'Oh, I'm in Los Angeles, where are you?' I'm like, 'Nowhere near there.'"
The connections she made with both her fellow soldiers and the Koreans she served alongside, as well as the opportunities to see the world, were Ashley's favorite parts of serving, she said.
"We tend to love harder," she said.
BACK IN THE USA
In 2013, Ashley shipped back to the States, to Fort Jackson, where she'd undergone her basic training. She worked there for two years before she decided to leave the service.
Ashley held the rank of Sergeant when she unenlisted, and she left the Army with several decorations.
"Army commendation medals ... the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, that was awarded to me, and various Army achievement medals throughout the time served," she said.
In 2017, Ashley took a job with the federal government that took her to Germany. She stayed for about a year and a half before deciding to return home to Union County. Now, she works as a Department of Defense contractor at the El Dorado Armory.
"I do the same job I did while I was in the military," she said. "it's nothing out of the ordinary."
In her free time, she enjoys volunteering with veterans organizations and community groups, like Project SOUTH, a nonprofit that works to connect local veterans with resources, and the El Dorado Service League.
Lately, her primary focus has been her five-month-old son, Avery.
"Motherhood – I couldn't have painted a picture even if I wanted to. It's demanding, it's unexpected," Ashley said. "I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. He is such a joy to be around. He's the happiest baby ever."
Ashley said she would recommend anyone who thinks they might be interested in serving their country to do it.
"Do it! Go for it! Get away, make new friends, enjoy the experiences," she said. "No matter where you go in this world, you're going to do something different, so when you come home, you have small children looking up to you... Do something that makes you proud."
Christie Ashley poses in her dress uniform at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina. (Courtesy photo)
Christie Ashley poses for a photo during her second deployment to Camp Casey, Korea, around 2012. (Courtesy photo)
U.S. Army veteran Christie Ashley holds her five-month-old son Avery. (Courtesy photo)