Saluting The Sons And Daughters
Who Serve The Nation

They’re in the army now.

This Veterans Day, observances and parades will be held throughout Queens to honor the men and women who have given years from their lives to the serve of our country, but while recent statisitics proclaim that military service is at an all time low, there are a few good men and women from our area making a difference.

In times past, all the American soldier needed was a full complement of ammunition, his M-16 and John Wayne-style grit.

But now, the sons of two local women go into battle armed not only with bullets, but also with enough technology and microchips to make a computer nerd jealous.

As the Army transforms itself into the digital age, Army Pfc. Kytrell K. Devone of Cambria Heights, and Master Sgt. Gerard A. Mills of St. Albans played an integral part in the Army’s Joint Contingency Force Advanced Warfighting Experiment conducted in Fort Polk, LA.

Devone, a 1996 graduate of Springfield Gardens High School, took part in the exercise as a construction equipment repairer with the 41st Engineer Battalion out of Fort Drum.

Army Specialist Vicky Nerette of Queens Village in the south Pacific.

"My job is to fix and maintain the heavy equipment so the engineers can accomplish their mission," Devone said.

While Devone is with the combat engineers, Mills, a 1978 graduate of Andrew Jackson High School, is the operations sergeant for the 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Fort Drum.

"I’m serving as the division air defense element’s operations noncommissioned officer," Mills explained.

During the exercise, the Army pitted its latest and greatest technology and modernization initiatives against the highly trained opposing forces stationed at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Devone, Mills and their colleagues were presented with tough, realistic battlefield challenges, many taken from the pages of recent urban conflicts such as Bosnia and Kosovo.

Although the majority of initiatives were centered on
the light infantryman, the Advanced Warfighting Experiment gave soldiers from all different career fields the chance to try something new. Soldiers tested everything from digitized Howitzers and rifles with thermal sights to advanced kitchen trailers and flying headquarters.

Devone said, "We have some new excavation equipment that I’ve been working on for the engineers."

"During this training rotation I’ve learned to be tactical at everything I do in a wartime situation," said Devone.

Mills explained, "I’m supporting the division by providing a real-time air picture through the forward area air defense command control computer and sensor."

"I’ve learned to network existing systems with experimental hardware and software applications," Mills added.

It’s the job of a Queens Village woman to take out the trash. But, not the usual Hefty bags full of discarded candy wrappers and outdated office memos.

This trash is made up of thousands of tons of nuclear warheads and deadly nerve agents. She does all this on an island no larger than the size of an 18-hole golf course.

Specialist Nerette disposes some of the Army’s most dangerous unused weapons on this tiny Pacific island no larger than an 18-hole golf course.

Army Spec. Vicky Nerette is stationed at Johnston Air Force Base on Johnston Atoll, a tiny base situated on a one-square-mile island more than 800 miles southwest of the coast of Hawaii.

Although surrounded by an endless expanse of clear blue sea, Johnston Island is anything but a tropical paradise.

First sighted in 1783 by an American sea captain, this atoll has since been used for everything from a World War II airfield to a nuclear test site.

In 1985, the atoll assumed one of its most dangerous missions: the destruction of chemical weapons. Since that time, the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System has destroyed more than three million pounds of nerve and mustard agents stored in M-55 rockets, one-ton containers and projectiles.

Nerette, a chemical ammunition specialist, is one of more than 1,200 soldiers, airmen and civilian contractors assigned to the island.

"I load and transport chemical ammunitions to the weapons disposal facility," said Nerette, a 1997 graduate of Hillcrest High School and the daughter of Victoria Nerette of Queens Village.

Nerette’s responsibilities don’t end with her job.

Surrounded by a stockpile of deadly weapons, she is also tasked with ensuring her own safety and the safety of those around her.

Standard issue on Johnston Island is an M40 gas mask, which she and the other service members carry to work every day.

These masks come in handy, particularly since Nerette and the other soldiers work around and with deadly agents – some dating back to World War II, with potentially leaky casings and faulty mechanisms.

The fact that there’s never been a major accident at the plant is a testament to the stringent safety measures.

"I always wear my protective mask when I’m working down range from the weapons disposal facility," said Nerette.

Maintaining safety isn’t Nerette’s only challenge.

Devoid of fast food and shopping malls, far from home and family, Johnston Island is a remote assignment in every sense of the word. Nerette and the other military members are there for a year, and all residents of the island are there alone.

Family members and friends aren’t given access to this high-security atoll.

"The greatest challenge I face is dealing with the same people 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Nerette. "I miss my family and friends, new movies, clothes and new trends. Phone service and Internet access is terrible out here. I really miss communicating with my friends."

Nerette’s job may be challenging, but it’s also about to end.

After 15 years of operations, and more than five million munitions destroyed, Johnston Atoll is just about out of chemical weapons.

And, since it is too dangerous to transport the remaining U. S. stockpile, after the last 13,000 M23 land mines are destroyed, the Army will close up shop and pull out.

The Air Force will then clean up and turn the island over to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will use the atoll as a wildlife refuge.

But in the meantime, Nerette and the other soldiers continue to accomplish a big mission on this tiny island.

"I think this mission makes an impact by ensuring that these weapons of mass destruction won’t ever be used," said Nerette.

While most soldiers train with and maintain their weapons, it’s Nerette’s job to destroy them. And with this trash detail, Nerette isn’t just cleaning up a building – she’s helping to clean up the world.

— Story and photos courtesy of Keith Thompson,
Elaine Tarello and the U.S. Army