Monica McAvoy Wells first set her sights on a military career in the mid-1970s. She was 5 - far too young to enlist, her father used to say.
But, that didn't stop the Air Force staff sergeant's daughter from recruiting playmates for marches and maneuvers. Almost 35 years later, yesterday's 'make believe' is today's reality for Air Force Master Sergeant Wells.
After wrapping up a year's deployment in Afghanistan, Wells, 39, - whose age could easily be guessed at 20-something - recently returned to Chautauqua County for visits with her family and parents, Jamestown residents, John and Mickey McAvoy. She had been planning the trip since May, she said, but it had taken longer than she had expected.
It was Mickey McAvoy's second visit with her daughter since her return from Afghanistan this past March.
'I was afraid she might not get home for awhile,' Mrs. McAvoy said, 'so after she came back, I waited for a couple of weeks, then flew out to spend a few days with her. A year was a long time to be without my daughter.'
An open-house honoring Wells, hosted by the McAvoys offered the servicewoman an opportunity to catch up on the news with family and friends, and to thank them in person for the packages they had shipped to her and for the supplies they had sent for the Afghan school.
Wells also shared birthday fun with her niece, Sydney Robinson, who proved to her aunt and to her mom - Jamestown High School English instructor, Amanda McAvoy Robinson - that she could blow out all eight of her birthday candles.
In addition, the master sergeant celebrated her 19th year in the Air Force. The Cassadaga Valley Central alumna enlisted in August 1989, weeks after receiving an associate degree in business administration at Jamestown Community College.
DUTIES IN AFGHANISTAN
Wells was based in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. The desolate region borders Pakistan, where opium poppy production was once the major source of income.
'The extreme poverty in that remote area was beyond anything I could have imagined,' she said.
The 'Provincial Reconstruction Team' of 400 troops included 38 women.
'The mission,' Wells said, 'was to help Afghans and Afghan contractors build roads - to teach them how to handle concrete and other building materials in work on various types of construction projects.'
The group also encouraged Afghans to develop new businesses, such as small chicken and egg farms. The team's efforts succeeded in cutting poppy production by about 60 percent, Wells said.
New construction included a hydroelectric plant, a project desperately needed in that isolated area. Wells said she was most proud of the 'new' school, an 'abandoned guard building,' that was transformed into a one-room learning center.
'The Afghan kids were so eager to learn, especially English,' Wells said. 'They were so excited when we played soccer with them. We soon learned that in Afghanistan, only the very wealthy people share recreational time with their children.
'When we first arrived, the children's schooling took place in a field. One of the troops - at his own expense - had an air conditioner shipped in for the school. In the summer, the average daily temperature is 130 degrees, so that gives you an idea of how much that air conditioner was appreciated,' the servicewoman said.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND GIFTS
As for school supplies, many items were contributed by the Watts Flats United Methodist Church, whose congregation includes the McAvoys.
'The church sent boxes of crayons, coloring books and all kinds of supplies that were used at the school,' Wells said. 'My niece sent toys and dolls. Kids in Afghanistan don't have toys. ... I felt like Santa Claus when the boxes arrived.'
Wells, an administrative supervisor at the small base, said each member of the team was always armed. For the most part, she said, the mission went well.
'I would say we found that eight out of ten Afghans really wanted to make their country a better place, and about 90 percent of them accepted Americans.
'The Afghans are very caring people,' the master sergeant said. 'The women, especially, were caring, shy, and very giving. For example, if I were to admire a woman's scarf, she would immediately insist on giving it to me. They were very inquisitive and, they are not used to women assuming leadership roles. That's why education is so important. Only education will make it possible for women to break out of that mold of tradition.'
Wells said she was particularly touched by one woman's desire to provide a better life for her 3-year-old son.
'She offered to give the little boy to me,' Wells said, 'because she wanted him to have a safe home and be educated in America. But, there is no policy on adoptions between the United States and Afghanistan, and adoptions are not possible.'
Military service has always been important to her, Wells said. In research some time ago, she found that relatives in her mother's family had served their country as far back as the War of 1812, and that her father's ancestors had fought in the Revolutionary War. This information led to her membership in the Benjamin Prescott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Since joining the Air Force, Wells has been based in Mississippi, Texas, California and New Mexico, where she has been stationed at the Kirtland Air Force Base for eight years. In 1994, she was deployed to Saudi Arabia, and served for four months in Operation Desert Storm.
Upon her retirement in 2009, Wells will leave the service with a bachelor's degree in business management, and she will remain at Albuquerque, where she lives with her husband, Todd and two teenage step-daughters.
'When Todd retired from the Air Force three years ago,' Wells said with a grin, 'he also was a master sergeant, which means he can't outrank me.'
'I can't remember when I didn't want to be in the military,' she said. 'When I was a little girl, living in Alaska where my dad was based, I just assumed that every kid's parents or parent was in the military. I decided I would serve, too and I never changed my mind.'
As in every career, there have been some tough times.
'My dad got me through the first 10 years,' she said, laughing, 'and, my husband's getting me through the last 10. But, if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.'
Wells said she was grateful for the opportunity to serve in Afghanistan.
'I believed in being there, and I appreciate more than ever how very blessed I am to be an American. I will never forget the hugs I got from the children and others just before we left.
'I worry that we and others in the world will abandon Afghanistan too soon,' she said. 'The Taliban are ready to take over if that happens, and the thought of what would happen to those people haunts me.
'Because of my involvement, the war has touched the lives of so many others, who in turn, sent boxes and reached out to people far across the world. It was a year in which I got to change people's lives, and not many of us get to do that.'
