National Guard work enables her to meet celebrities in Baghdad

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July 6, 2007

Caleb Schaber The Rushville Republican Fri Jul 06, 2007, 12:29 PM EDT

BAGHDAD, Iraq — For more than a year Lt. April Collett deployed with the Indiana National Guard, mostly in Iraq. Collett, 27, graduated from Rushville Consolidated High School in 1999.

Collett serves with the 38th DISCOM, known as "Task Force Indy." The 38th DISCOM provide the services such as billeting, electricity, water, Internet, transportation and waste removal. They take care of the needs of soldiers fighting outside the base. When returning to the barracks, or when passing through the Victory Base Complex (VBC), the 38th DISCOM make sure the soldiers are as comfortable as they can be.

Collett's job is overseeing the Morale Welfare and Recreation services on the base. She also assists entertainers during USO shows, making sure they have a place to stay and access to food. Recently Toby Keith played at Victory.

"With the bigger stars, there are more people around," she said, adding that she never thought that she would have a job in Baghdad that would have her meeting with Toby Keith.

Outside the barrier and razor wire of Camp Victory, the war rages on. Explosions are seen and heard regularly, throughout the day and night.

The work of the 38th DISCOM has not gone unnoticed. General David Petraeus, top military commander in Iraq, recently commented that "Task Force Indy has done a magnificent job.

"Overseeing a multitude of security and logistical tasks, the members of the Task Force enable tens of thousands of our troopers at the Victory Base complex to focus on their jobs and leave the rest to Task Force Indy, he continued. "The members of the Task Force are a credit to the Indiana National Guard and America's Army."

Collett's husband also serves in the guard and is deployed with her, but they are not at the same base.

"I lucked out with the job I got, compared to my husband," Collett said. Her husband is Ramadi and often works outside the wire.

The National Guard, Collett said, offered her the most to sign up out of the branches of the military.

"I love the military," she said, but added that she does plan on having a family in the future.

The 38th DISCOM will return to Indiana before the end of the summer.

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