2008 Woodie Awards
VALLEY PEOPLE: From Bosnia to Valley: Army Vet Shifts Focus
Will Reyes
Issue date: 11/16/05 Section: News
Valley College student Julie Heuer grew up watching John Wayne films and heroes in war movies, hoping to one day be in their shoes.
"I always wanted to be a spy and do covert things," Heuer said, so she joined the Army about two weeks out of high school in 1998.
Heuer is one of many veterans at Valley pursuing various careers. The 25-year-old Sacramento native served four years in the Army before coming to Valley and settling in as a cinema major.
In the Army, she took on a job as an intelligence analyst. Six months later she was excited to be deployed to Korea, but it didn't turn out as she planned.
"I always wanted to be covert and I ended up doing a lot of deskwork," Heuer said. "I wanted to be a soldier, not work in an office."
For a year she worked in updating security clearances and acting as a liaison between the states and the soldiers,
After a brief stop in Georgia, her wish to be in more action was granted: she was transferred to Bosnia. There she briefed air brigades before missions, and profiled members of the black market.
The assignment was exciting and risky, in part because of the land itself. "Bosnia is like one big land mine," said E4 Spc. Ann Griffin, Heuer's roommate at the time.
Heuer once saw a cow walk over a mine and explode. "All the people came out and took the meat off the body," Heuer said. Despite the risks, she made the best of the situation.
"She's smart and cared about what she did," said E4 Spc. Gary Griffin, Ann's husband, and an intelligence analyst Heuer supervised in Bosnia. "She made it very comfortable with her relaxed attitude, which is a good thing in the military."
Upon completing her one-year deployment in Bosnia, she returned to Georgia and finished her service maintaining equipment, vehicles and going out on field duty training.
Her unit was in the midst of training on Sep. 11, 2001, when they heard about the attacks on the radio. "After [that] we all wanted to go to Afghanistan," Heuer said. "That was our motivation, but when they told us that we would go to Iraq, it changed to money."
"I always wanted to be a spy and do covert things," Heuer said, so she joined the Army about two weeks out of high school in 1998.
Heuer is one of many veterans at Valley pursuing various careers. The 25-year-old Sacramento native served four years in the Army before coming to Valley and settling in as a cinema major.
In the Army, she took on a job as an intelligence analyst. Six months later she was excited to be deployed to Korea, but it didn't turn out as she planned.
"I always wanted to be covert and I ended up doing a lot of deskwork," Heuer said. "I wanted to be a soldier, not work in an office."
For a year she worked in updating security clearances and acting as a liaison between the states and the soldiers,
After a brief stop in Georgia, her wish to be in more action was granted: she was transferred to Bosnia. There she briefed air brigades before missions, and profiled members of the black market.
The assignment was exciting and risky, in part because of the land itself. "Bosnia is like one big land mine," said E4 Spc. Ann Griffin, Heuer's roommate at the time.
Heuer once saw a cow walk over a mine and explode. "All the people came out and took the meat off the body," Heuer said. Despite the risks, she made the best of the situation.
"She's smart and cared about what she did," said E4 Spc. Gary Griffin, Ann's husband, and an intelligence analyst Heuer supervised in Bosnia. "She made it very comfortable with her relaxed attitude, which is a good thing in the military."
Upon completing her one-year deployment in Bosnia, she returned to Georgia and finished her service maintaining equipment, vehicles and going out on field duty training.
Her unit was in the midst of training on Sep. 11, 2001, when they heard about the attacks on the radio. "After [that] we all wanted to go to Afghanistan," Heuer said. "That was our motivation, but when they told us that we would go to Iraq, it changed to money."
