Tulsi Gabbard leaves fans in awe as she recalls Sergeant Major's surprise over her role in Hawaii before joining military
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard recently opened up about her first interaction with her Sergeant Major from the time she enlisted in the US military.
The 42-year-old told her followers that the Sergeant Major was completely taken aback after learning about her previous role in Hawaii as a “State Representative in the State Legislature.”
Gabbard detailed that the Sergeant Major had an unexpected reaction to this news and said, “How come I don’t know this?”
The former Congresswoman from Hawaii recalled the incident in detail for a group named The Veterans Project, renowned for capturing the legacies of allied veterans through detailed essays.
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Tulsi Gabbard talks about enlisting in the US Military in April 2003
In a moving Instagram post, Gabbard opened up about her first enlistment in the United States Military after her election to the State Legislature in November 2002.
“I was elected to the state legislature in November of 2002, then enlisted in April of 2003 on the floor of the State House here, and shipped off to basic training at Fort Jackson a couple of months later as soon as our legislative session was over.”
She added, “For a while, no one knew I was in basic training. I was able to keep it quiet. Plus, this is not about politics at all. I just wanted to go through training like everybody else.”
Gabbard recalled that she put “State Representative” in the occupation column of the standardized form given to her, knowing that no one would read it.
“On in-processing day, I was assigned to Bravo Company 2-60th at Fort Jackson. They put us all in the barracks bay, sat us down, and had us fill out all of the typical standardized forms.”
“It was a bio sheet requesting name, address, occupation, etc. I wasn’t going to lie of course, so I put ‘State Representative’ on there and, as one might expect, those papers were never looked at or read by anyone.”
However, Gabbard never realized that her occupation would completely stun the Sergeant Major a few weeks later.
Tulsi Gabbard shares Sergeant Major’s reaction to her occupation
Speaking about her first few weeks in the military, Gabbard said, “I made it through the first seven weeks or so without anybody knowing this, until one day when I was pulling CQ duty (Charge of Quarters). My assigned battle buddy and I were sitting at the CQ desk in battalion headquarters. We were both PFCs, and she was from the Midwest.”
It was at this moment, Gabbard recalled, that the Sergeant Major walked in and began asking them both questions about themselves.
“The battalion Sergeant Major comes walking in and does what Sergeant Majors do, saying, ‘Hey, privates, how are you? How is training? Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do at home?’”
She continued, “He's talking to my battle buddy, then comes to me and finds out I'm from Hawaii. ‘What do you do back home?’ I told him I was a State Representative in the State Legislature, and his jaw just dropped. He just looked at me and finally asked, ‘How come I don't know this?’”
Gabbard replied, “Sergeant Major, nobody's asked. I wrote it on the form when we got here.’ He replied, ‘Standby.’ I'm pretty sure my drill sergeants got a bit of an earful after that (laughs).”
She concluded, “To their credit, other than some ribbing from the drill sergeants, of course, we were nearing the end of basic training anyway, and everything was fine. Everything was great.”
Fans in awe of Tulsi Gabbard’s Sergeant Major’s story in the US military
Fans were delighted to hear this anecdote from Gabbard. One wrote, “ROCK STAR!!! Would love you on a ticket.”
A second said, “What a great story,” while a third wrote, “@tulsigabbard That was a cool story. However, I was at Fort Jackson as a drill sergeant. I would have read your profile if you were my soldier.”
Another added, “Love your approach to the military and all things in life. American through and through.”
“Amazing woman. I hope I can be like you when I grow up. Lol. Seriously tho!” yet another chimed in.