Rich Valencia
From a SCIF to Special Forces
Six years after Rich Valencia graduated
from Live Oak High School, he decided
to join the Army.
“I wanted to be a rock star, but I
had a four-year-old daughter to raise. I
wanted to build a career and better my
life, and I’d always been interested in
the military.”
Valencia began his Army service as a
Cryptologic Linguist at age 24, which he
said is “old by Army standards.”
After basic training he attended the
Defense Language Institute in Monterey.
His duties were focused on intelligence
gathering.
“I sat in a secret room, or SCIF,
translating newspapers and other
communications. It wasn’t what I was
looking for, so I asked to be assigned
to a tactical unit.”
Valencia was accepted into Airborne
school and then assigned to the Seventh
Special Forces Group.
“I enjoyed being in the Army,”
Valencia said. “I pushed myself to places
I never thought I could.” Despite being
“petrified of heights,” he spent lots of
time jumping from airplanes, repelling
from helicopters into water, and
scaling buildings.
Deployed to Afghanistan, he had his
“greatest experience of culture shock.”
“I got to know people in the local
communities in Afghanistan and met
72
some really good guys in the Afghani
special forces. What we Americans
consider normal and right isn’t always
normal and right in other parts of the
world; it’s just how we were raised and
what we know.”
Valencia said the hardest part of
being in Afghanistan was leaving his
team. “They were still serving their tour
of duty and I wouldn’t be there anymore
to help. But we’ve kept in touch. I could
show up on their doorstep ten years
from now and be welcomed in. Until
you’ve been in the dirt with someone,
you haven’t experienced that kind
of bond.”
When Valencia returned home he
attended support groups and accessed
other veterans’ services in Hollister and
Palo Alto and had a positive experience.
He said the Gilroy VFW provides “a
good outlet for vets to talk about their
war experiences and get connections
into the VA.”
He has also taken his motorcycle out
occasionally to ride with members of
the local chapter (334) of the Combat
Veterans Motorcycle Association.
“When there’s stress, we just head
out on the road together and let it go.”
Mellea McLaughlin
Army Sergeant
Mellea McLaughlin grew up in a small
town in Texas and graduated high
school at 16. She joined military to serve
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
her country and then pursue a college
degree on the GI Bill.
“I chose the Marines, then my
dad wouldn’t sign the paperwork,”
McLaughlin said. “He wanted me to join
the Air Force. We settled on the Army.”
She was sent to Fort Jackson for basic
training and assigned to code detection
but there were no openings. She chose
optics and electronics.
“They had me working on firing
systems—definitely a male-dominated
specialty at that time.” McLaughlin said
she personally never experienced much
pushback.
“When I went into basic training, I
was ready. Having been raised on a farm
I was strong and physically up to the
challenge. I’d learned to shoot at the age
of seven so I was good with a rifle and I
loved field exercises.”
“My dad and grandfather were in the
military. Before I went in, my dad said,
‘There’ll be a good guy and a bad guy.
Agree with the bad guy, but do what
the good guy says.’ I went in ready to
do things their way. People saw me as a
leader, someone who was helping other
people get where they needed to be.”
She was made a squad leader in
Texas, and a platoon leader at Fort
Knox. As a specialist in firing systems,
McLaughlin had to evaluate Army text-
books.
“I had to evaluate books describ-
ing how to maintain, troubleshoot and
repair all kinds of equipment, even
Bradley tanks. The goal was how to
explain the steps in the least amount of
words with greatest amount of clarity.
And if you didn’t know all the Army
acronyms, you’d be lost.
“I was part of a diverse popula-
tion from all over the country learning
how to work together and depend on
each other. There was no room for, ‘I
don’t want to do it’ or ‘I’m not feeling
it today.’ It taught me ultimate respon-
sibility, that I was part of the success or
failure of the operation.”
Mellea McLaughlin is married with
four adult children. She serves as
Publications Director for the Morgan
Hill Chamber of Commerce, where she
shares information about local veteran’s
activities with the community.
She served five years on active duty
and one year in the Army Reserve.
gmhtoday.com