SERGEANT SUMMER GUERRERO

SGT Summer Guerrero: I'm Sergeant Summer Guerrero. I'm an E5 for the U.S. Army Reserve. When I was younger I had two goals: I wanted to be a mom, and I wanted to join the Army Reserve.

When I joined the Army Reserve, I wanted to serve my country. I did not know that there were several different opportunities for me. My MOS is a 21 Mike, which is a Firefighter and in the civilian world, I'm an industrial firefighter.

The training that you get...you can use that in your civilian world, and it would help me financially and give me the education that I needed. Some of the training that I get in the Army Reserve I do not get in my civilian world, so it keeps me well-rounded.

The discipline that I was taught from the Army Reserve I feel helps me with my civilian job and with my family. So when I came to Boeing, I had the Airport Firefighting certificate that is very much needed here at Boeing.

What was great about the Army Reserve is that they trained me and gave me the certificates that I needed for the civilian world. When we came back from Iraq, I had one Vietnam Veteran come up to me and shake my hand and told me thank you. Right there, that was honor.

Sometimes it bothers my kids that I'm gone for a full 24 hours, but yet they think it's really cool to say "Hey, Mom's a firefighter!" I think that my kids really do have a respect for me?a different kind of respect for me.

When I look at myself in the mirror, I'm very proud of what I've become.