Sally Rejas: From Airborne to Advocate

Welcome back, everybody, to the Return to Base podcast, where we talk with leaders, people who didn't stop serving when they took off the uniform. I'm your host, Cliff VanRickley. And today's guest is someone whose story hits on leadership, resilience, and redefining what service looks like after duty. Now for the, for the audience out there, I will say that Return to Base is something that we had started a couple of years ago, and we took a bit of a hiatus, if you will, while life caught up with us, as it does all veterans. And so this is the first episode of the second season. So it's an honor to have such a really cool guest with a good story here to talk about it and also an honor to be supported by Navy Federal Credit Union. So without further ado, I want to introduce Sally Rehas. Let's just get right into it a bit. You know, the, I think it's better when audience hears directly from you and hears your story. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself, forget about a little bit, tell us, let's get in depth, right? Let's get like behind, tell me, you know, what brought you to the military? And then, you know, I know you, you served, distinguished, or you served, served with honor and distinguishment, and, and then went on to be a civil servant. So let's start there. First and foremost, Cliff, thank you so much. I am honored, no pressure on us for being one of the first ones getting back on track because I think what you guys are doing is amazing. So I'll let you know a little bit about me. It's funny you said from the beginning, because my son already makes me feel old. It's like back in your days, you know, back in my time, right? But we're not old. We're in the mid age. So I try to remind him. So a little bit about me. So I was raised in Puerto Rico, and in many ways, I was reborn in Maryland. I was raised by a single mother, and she decided to move from Puerto Rico to Maryland. And I will tell you, I had no idea. I didn't know no English. I didn't know where I was going from an island to sort of like a big city. It was in Silver Spring, Maryland. So it was the DMV, as they would call it, right? I was about eight years old. And I'll tell you right now, I learned resilience, adaptability, and survival from the get-go. And so, you know, I was determined, being in survival mode, that meant I was determined to create a future for myself, something for me. And in 2000, there was an army recruiter from my high school who was trying to recruit my older sister. It was literally, I think I was in 10th grade at this time, going to 11th grade. He came to our house, and he was just determined to recruit my sister. What he didn't know is that he recruited me. I was listening in. No one was paying me attention. I was like 15. I turned 14 or 15, because it was right in the summer. And I graduated high school at six, excuse me, at 17. So I was 15, 16, because my sister's two years older than me. And so I remember it was in 2000, early 2000, and he came to my mom's house, and he wanted to recruit my sister. And he said, be all you can be. That was the army motto back then. Yeah, back in the day, right? Back in the days. It resonated with me. You know, I wanted to be more than where I was and where I was coming from. Wow. That's a fantastic story. What was it like growing up in Puerto Rico in the 80s? I suppose it was the 80s. I'm going to show myself. I was born in 79, so. First, I would let you know that I was a jibara. I lived in the mountains of Puerto Rico, in Carolina. The city's called Canovanilla, Carolina, Puerto Rico. And so I was a farmer's girl. You're talking about playing, you know, in the farm, no shoes, running up and down the hills. Dirty. You know. Huh? Dirty. Yes, yes. With cousins, you know, because the parents were always working. So the grandparents basically took care of us. I'll tell you what, my grandma would put it on us. Like, she disciplined us with a switch if she had to, to put some order in place. But yeah, so I kind of grew up just kind of, I would say it wasn't pretty. Everything wasn't shiny, you know. We were in the farm, in the dirt, you know, jumping from one level to the other, you know, on a mattress bed. You know, we found ways. My cousin and I found ways to entertain ourselves, let's just say. But there's something beautiful about picking a fruit from a tree whenever I wanted to. If it's a mango or guinepas, you know. I'll say other ones, but you might not know them. But fruits, we would just pull them and eat. I did see, like, my grandparents were a little bit old school. They would do a lot of tradings. And so if someone needed something, they'll give them food for that service because we had a farm. I was part of, I witnessed my grandfather butchering pigs during the holidays for our traditional meals. But yeah, it was, it was, it was different. It was completely different. So when I say I went from Puerto Rico and my mom, my mom did one better for us. So she moved to the state of Maryland, in Maryland. I went from music, food, and brokenness to then fast paced. You got trains. We were in survivor mode. It wasn't easy for her. It couldn't be any different, could it? Yeah, very different. Yeah. But the worst part was that I didn't know English. So I had to kind of learn how to communicate. And, you know, everything was new and different. Is there not a vibrant Puerto Rican community in Maryland? Not when I moved in. So yeah, let's go back to when I, back in the days. Back in the day. So you're talking about in the 90s, 95? I bet you had to buy a coat, didn't you? I feel like you didn't have a jacket. Like what's a jacket? Listen, a church provided us coats and jackets. They were there to help my mom, you know, as she was trying to survive herself, trying to raise three daughters. A house full of women, which will make, you'll have a better understanding of my woman empowerment. And I go, if my mom could do it with three girls and we survive, so can you, you know, so can us. I will tell you, though, because it was half my childhood life experience, it was joining the military that really molded me. And so I like to explain to people that I had a culture shock from Puerto Rico to the airborne culture, the airborne community. And as you would know, you know, hurry up and wait with a parachute on your back. You know, I loved it. And I sometimes even miss it because that's how much I grew up in it. I was 17 years old. Yeah. Cause I joined, I joined the army at 17. I went to Fort Benning Airborne School at 17, turning 18. And then my first duty station, Fort Bragg, North Carolina at 18. What did the recruiter say that resignated with you? And what made you, quite literally, since you became an 82nd airborne soldier, what made you take the leap? So, yeah, great question, actually. So I would tell you what the recruiter said. Again, that be all you can be really resonated. It was before September 11, 2001 that I joined. So he kind of sold the whole free education, right? So that would put less of a burden on my mother. I was thinking of, okay, how can I make this possible? I am the second one to graduate. My mom can't afford for me to go to college, but I wanted more for myself. One was free education, right? It's like, you're going to earn it, but you know the recruiter don't say you're going to earn it. They're just going to say, hey, join the military. You got free education. I was like, okay. The second thing was, you know, he spoke of traveling and I didn't know anything but Puerto Rico and Maryland. And I go, man, you know, I would love to travel and on their expense because I had no money, right? And so that is- They put you in North Carolina. Yeah. Oh, yeah, right. Because I knew better. I had no idea. I mean, you're really talking to a young girl. Well, first of all, he wasn't even talking to me. I was listening. I was eavesdropping. And I said, you know what? I want to do this. I want something better for myself. I want school. I want opportunity. And so that's what I saw. When I saw that recruiter, I saw an opportunity. And like I mentioned before, I've been in survivor mode. There was things that, you know, I experienced in the island. Again, we didn't live in the shiny silver lining, you know, the nice area. We were in the mountains and we were barely getting by. And so seeing my mom barely getting by as well, I just, I wanted more. And I'll tell you what, going from the Puerto Rico to the mainland and then being dropped into the airborne culture, it forced me, it forced me to grow up fast. Yes. Can I say that? It really, it really forced me to grow fast. Besides learning discipline, accountability, and how to lead even when I didn't feel ready, because did we have a choice, Cliff? No. No. Congratulations. Now you're a POC. Congratulations. You're a specialist. Congratulations. You're an NCO. Now I have to lead the way. Right? Right. Like I have to lead. Well, let me ask you another question. This leap of faith we talk about. Yeah. You know, I think we have to maybe back up just a little bit. So did you find and get recruited by the same recruiter? Okay. So he like sowed some seeds. All right. I like that. Yes. He planted some seed. You're right. He didn't know it. He didn't know it. Yeah. And then he, when you left for basic training and you, you became a finance specialist, correct? Yes, I did. Okay. So maybe we'll talk about where my Shaper work went. So I'm in basic training and two weeks, a little bit less than two weeks before graduation, guess what happens. Oh, Twin Towers. That's right. September 11th. I was in basic training, getting ready, clearing out. We just came from one of our, the last roadmarch, you know, the one that says you're, you're, you're done after this, you're graduating, you know, basic training and we get hit. And the whole world changes from that day. Literally everything changed. And a week and a half, my family's supposed to be there, but now they have all these security. The army didn't even know what was happening. Everyone who was in the military around that time. I don't know if they remember much of the wars before, or everything was like new. September 11th, 2001 changed everything in the world. Like everything, as you know, policies and stuff later, but the drill sergeants were like, Hey, this is what we're trained for. And I'm like, what am I going to tell my mom? You know, I don't know what's happening. I signed on to a peace army, right? That's why your mom signed the papers. Literally. I'm 18 now though. So I did, I, I scored high and I'm very proud of that, of my ASVAB. That's why I poked, I chose finance and I go to AIT school. So mind you, I still don't know I'm going airborne. I go to AIT school. And you went to basic where? Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Yeah. Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I did basic training and AIT. Okay. Well, so you, so far in your life, you've had a really livid or student, a really extreme traveling life. You went from Puerto Rico to Maryland to South Carolina. Cliff, it gets better. It gets better. Wait for it. It gets better. Wait for it. Well, in Fort Jackson, I'm in the finance world, right? AIT, I'm learning. But it still wasn't exciting enough for me. And I was a runner. And if you're a runner, you're in the A team because you're faster. And I love to run. And I remember the, it was like Charlie company in basic training. I mean, AIT for finance, we were Charlie company. And I remember the first sergeant, he was airborne and he would look at me and go, you should go airborne. And I'm like, what's airborne? I love to run. Yeah. I was like, airborne? Sure. I run. He's like, yeah. Did you ever watch a movie about the army? Nothing. And I meant to tell you that, that's a good point. I didn't watch no movies about the army. No one in my family served in the military. So it was all new to me. It was just that opportunity, that curiosity. That I had no idea, but it sounded exciting and I will go for it. So I said, well, how do I train for airborne? He's like, we got you. You stay 18 and then we'll send you to airborne school. Sure enough. They sent me to airborne school. And again, I tell you, I was 17, turning 18 that summer. At 18, I'm in airborne school. I am jumping out of planes. I realized, which you don't really notice these things when you're a child, right? But there wasn't many of us. It was like, I think we started as 10 females in airborne school, but only like four of us graduated. Four of us made airborne school. We made it through the whole process, but I was a runner. And then I remember one of the runs, I almost sprained my ankle. Like, you know how you sprain it lightly and you're like, don't do that. Yeah. Like you're not. And I remember Thanksgiving was coming. Graduation for airborne school was before Thanksgiving. I'm like, I am going home for Thanksgiving. Like we're not failing. So, yeah. So AIT was where I was introduced to the airborne world. I just didn't know what that meant. Right. But I will tell you, once I went to airborne school, already September 11th happened. One of the leaders, one of the leaders, already September 11th happened. One of the leaders said something. And I think you might know this one, but it was like, it's a sign. Have you ever drove down 95 from North Carolina to South Carolina? You pass for Bragg exit. But there's a big sign that says sleep well tonight. The 82nd Airborne Division is on point. Wow. I was like, okay. My first duty station, 82nd Airborne. I didn't go far. Just one state. Wearing up the Southeast. Literally. Literally. So I'm staying on 95. Basically, I'm an East Coast girl. But I tell you what, a leader said, we got to keep them out of our backyard. And that motivated me. That literally motivated me. I didn't know today. I didn't know then what I know, obviously, today. I didn't realize there wasn't a lot of females who were able, you know, to pass airborne school. I didn't realize that that was very prestige, you know, that I did well. But guess what? When I got today in and replacement was like, oh, we keeping her. And they kept me as a cadre. So the first three years in the 82nd Airborne Division, I was a cadre in repo. In processing. Yeah. True. In process. And they're like, oh, we got to keep her to set the standards. They even use me as a recruiter now. They will send me to Fort Jackson to A.I.T. So they could see a young little girl. I'm 5'2", Cliff. I'm 5'2". Wow. I was this tiny little girl, 5'2". You're going to be fit into a T-10. Listen, my jumps were literally amazing because I had a lot of time in the air. I had a lot of time. But, yeah, so they used me as a recruiter. And sure enough, I recruited females to join, to go airborne. So the 82nd could have more females. We were trying to reduce the status quo, right? It was like one female for every 10 paratrooper. And so we did. I would say we did because a lot of the females who go airborne school and pass it, they will have to go through me, the 82nd repo replacement. And I would see them. They're like, hey, you remember me? You were in that presentation. I'm like, yeah. Well, glad that you joined. You know, welcome. Yeah. Well, since we're on the subject of airborne, I always have to ask. Do you remember your first jump? No, it was, it was, I closed my eyes. I thought I was, no, I don't remember my first jump. It was so fast. The way I describe it is you're on the airplane. Well, first of all, let's back up like 25 hours later, something stupid. You put your parachute on and then you waited around to board an aircraft. And then you're on the aircraft. The door opens and everybody looks at the door. Everybody looks over. You could smell the jet fuel. You could feel depending on what time of year, either the fold or the kink sink in. And then they stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. And that that's literally it. You, you, you move the feet, move you towards the door without you even knowing what's happening. Hand off your static line to the jump master, put your feet and knees into the wind, tuck your chin, count to four. Yes. Right. So how many numbers did you count to? I think, listen, everything was a shock. I don't even think I counted. And we're talking about, so my first jump in airborne school, that's the one. And once I joined the 82nd, they put more like, I think they were like, what was it called? Cause I can't remember the English word, the English word for it. But where you're playing tricks on the new soldiers. And trust me when I say that first jump in airborne school was completely different from my first jump in the 82nd. Now I'm a paratrooper. I'm wearing that patch. I got to make proud. I couldn't show them my fears and I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's awesome. Oh, you did it. Right. So, I mean, um, four out of 10. And, and soldiers out of probably 400 that go to, to airborne school. Yeah. I think my class was something around 400 people. Yeah. It was big. So let's talk about your, your military career, um, as a, as a paratrooper there in the 82nd airborne division served there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you never even got stationed anywhere else. You never PCS'd? Sir, I did not. 2001 to 2008 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The only place, listen, the only place I left was to Kuwait and Iraq. That's the only places I left Fort Bragg. It was like, I think the myth back then was once in the 82nd, you ain't going nowhere. They kept us tight. They didn't want to let us go. Obviously joining in 2001. Uh, I w I was in Germany already, um, as a, a homo guy the time, but, um, 2001, you're right. Absolutely. Right. And you talked a little bit about the fear that you and your family had of like, Oh my God, we are, we're going to war. Knowing that you are in, um, arguably the tip of the spear of the airborne infantry units, the 82nd airborne division, you had to know that eventually your number would be called. Right. So being, being put initially in that replacement, what was your thoughts about that other than obviously some pride and being able to, uh, help increase the number of females in the, in the airborne, but was there any kind of like, well, I mean, when do I get to go? Well, I knew my time was coming. I knew my time was coming and it was literally right after New Orleans had that big hurricane come by. I had my daughter in 2004, February. And I knew, okay, got that out of the way. Right. I know I'm coming next. They were sending my soldiers down to New Orleans in 2005 to help out. And I knew, okay, once we get back from New Orleans, it's our turn to rotate because you kind of know already, you know, which one down the field, you know, down the street, Ardennes in Fort Bragg, you know, Fort Bragg cliff. Right. Yeah. So you know Ardennes. Okay. I spent a little time there. I know. Okay, good. Good. So, yeah, we already knew that the rotation was coming. You kind of know who's next. And we had a few, uh, finance company kept, came back and I knew we were next. And so it was hard to explain to my family that I have no choice. It is my turn. Right. Like they're like, there's no way you can't leave your child. And I go, it is my duty. I am wearing this uniform. But that's exactly how it felt. It was my duty. I had soldiers go before me. Now it's my turn. The rotation to me was so important because you see some of those soldiers go back to PAC deployments and I'm like, no, it's my turn. Let's give them a break so they can spend time with their family. And so I just knew it was part of my duties, you know, and I went. I can't say that I wasn't scared, but I know I wasn't excited. You know, it just, you just kind of feel like it's your duty. This is my family now. So one of the things the 82nd taught me was loyalty and family. Like they got my six, you know, and my pride, you know, like, so I felt like because I was so young and already embedded in the military, my soldiers were my family and then I was other, you know, all my, my whole squad were uncles to my daughter, you know? So it's just a duty. It was a duty for me to go and it was, you know, my rotation. It wasn't easy. Tell me, tell me. I like to, I like to hear these. I know mine. So I'm going to ask you and it sounds like you, um, were you stationed in Kuwait for a little bit before movie four? So did, did you do like a train up in Kuwait or did they have you like in-processing people in the theater in Kuwait first? So, yeah. So I went to Kuwait. Now I will tell you that we did not foresee going to Iraq, but something happened. The surge. Here comes the surge. So in 2005, we go to Kuwait, we have a mission. The mission in Kuwait was actually to train the Kuwaitis on how they do their finance. And so I was fortunate enough to go to different bases in Kuwait, you know, trying to like provide, you know, finance support. And so not only did we have cashiers, so I had soldiers who were my cashiers, but I also had to do other details in the sense to prepare the Kuwaitis. And so we were part of a bigger mission, but just doing little work, you know, as I, you know, so, so we did a lot of cashiering and we did a lot of moving to different bases to help out, but we didn't train others. We were just teaching them how we do our finance processes. And so we stayed in Kuwait literally, I want to say maybe three months. It was a short term, like little tour. And then, yeah, we flew in to Iraq and we stayed a whole, like the rest of our year in Iraq. So now we're talking about military airplane, probably C-130 going into to buy up. Yeah. Yeah. And let me tell you, I think you ever like, I can't remember exactly how it was, but I tell you what, I know. I almost pee in my pants. I tell you, we were flying from Kuwait to Iraq and then the C-130 just zoom. And then he gets back in order and says, you know, you hear the people talking, they're like, they, they thought something just shot at us. I said, what? Like something just shot at us. So the plane was dodging it, you know, the C-130 was dodging it. And so, yeah, well back then, obviously that's when we were really getting attack. I know Afghanistan had it worse, but we got it too. We were getting attack everywhere we went. So yeah. So C-130, but then once we got to Iraq, then we would get on the, you know, the shoppers and stuff to get to our different bobs. Cause we actually split. So those four spots. Let's just pause here real quick. Kind of in line with the previous question, you're on C-130. Do you remember being hit with the, what was your feeling of stepping out of the C-130? Cause I know if I close my eyes the first time I was in Iraq, I could, I can, I can smell Iraq. It smells a lot like jet fuel by the way, but also burning like kerosene, things like that. And then the buzz of the heat and the heat does feel like it is you can feel it on your skin, almost like the atoms vibrating. It was a slap in the face. Absolutely. Cause it was a slap in the face. I felt like you walk out and it's like, I caught my breath. I remember it took my breath. It was like a heat slapped me in the face, but it was nighttime. And I believe we just used to travel better at nighttime for safety reason. And when I stepped out, I kid you not, to this day, I tell the kids, I've never seen the moon so close. It was so clear. The sky was so clear. And I believe it's because we didn't have that much light. So maybe the moon was just big and bright. And I was like, I am so close to the moon. Like, you know, it was so, it was a weird thought, but I do share that one with my kids because I tell them to this day, besides being slapped in the face with the heat, it was so disrespectful. That heat was so disrespectful. Because the fuel too. Yes. The fuel, everything's hot on a tarmac. How'd you feel? Nervous. I was scared, nervous. You know. Did you say a prayer? I've been praying from day one. I think I was like the beginning. No, but once you, I don't know, you know, you ever hear like, I feel, I felt like, you know, when people who perform on stage, they say, once they step on stage, they just get on the, you know, performance. That's how I felt. I felt like when I stepped out of that plane, it is showtime, meaning it's time to handle business. This is not a playground. This is watch everything that's going on, you know? Yeah. For my life. Yeah. And for my soldiers, you know, we're not selfish. We're selfless. And I literally cared about my soldier. It didn't help again that, you know, there wasn't that many females. It was three of us who went to the same fog and, you know, they split us. So now I can't take care of my soldiers. My soldiers are male, you know? And so the splitting was a little difficult for me. So I was on like, my mind was already got slapped in the face with a disrespectful heat and fuel and nastiness. I looked up to the sky. I see the moon clear as daylight. But then I'm, I'm on what's next. Where are we going? Where are we going to leave our weapons? Do we have all our ammo? You know, like it just, you, you start getting on. The show must go on. Right. So you don't even focus on how you feel. I don't think I can remember much of what I felt in Iraq because I was always in motion. Yeah. That makes sense. Well, I think now would be a great time to take a quick break. All right. We're back when we leave.