LANSING, Mich. — Veterans Day is a time to honor those who have served in the United States military.
In 2021, only an estimated 17% will serve 20 years, with longer terms becoming exceedingly rare.
That statistic gets smaller when focusing solely on women, who the U.S. Department of Defense says make up only 17% of the military.
Here in Michigan, two women in the Michigan Army National Guard have broken records for their length of service.
In their 40 years, they say a lot has changed since they enlisted.
"Back then, it was definitely was a man's world. It definitely was different," said Master Sergeant Helen Miller with the Michigan Army National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters Public Affairs.
Master Sergeant Miller is the first woman to have 40 years of service — all of it as a member of the Michigan Army National Guard.
"It's been my whole life, basically, and my job and my career, and it's provided for my family and me and paid all the bills. I've traveled the world and seen things I would never have seen or done if I weren't in this uniform," said MSG Miller.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Lora Lingeman is with the Sustainment Automation Support Management Office (SASMO) at the Joint Forces Headquarters in Lansing. She is the first woman to have 40 years of total service in Michigan.
"You get started in this, and you really don't give it much thought, you know?" says Lingeman. "You come to work every day. You put the uniform on. You talk to people, you fix things, and you work on different little problems and things like that come up or big projects, and it just ... you're not ... I haven't been looking that far down the road."
The two joined in the early '80s. Master Sergeant Miller enlisted in 1983, followed by Chief Warrant Officer Lingeman in 1984. Both were 17 years old at the time.
"Back then I was a signal soldier, it’s called. I did communications ... that's kind of what I did. It’s a different type of communications than what I do now, so I actually, you know, ran wires and talked on teletype telephone, sent messages by typewriter. It was a different, different time, but I did that for 19 years," said MSG Miller.
After those 19 years, she moved to Lansing for her current job.
"My favorite part of being in is being able to tell everyone's story and document the history of what we're doing, you know, in the Michigan Guard," said MSG Miller.
For Chief Warrant Officer Lingeman, she enlisted in the army for two and a half years before getting out, and then reenlisting again in the National Guard shortly after.
"I didn’t realize I was going to miss it quite as much as I did," said CW4 Lingeman. "I was the easiest sell in the history of the Michigan Army National Guard because very next day, five months pregnant, I went and raised my right hand," she said.
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CW4 Lingeman held many positions in her time in the National Guard and even deployed with the support maintenance company for Desert Storm.
It's one of her most memorable times of her career, for both good and bad.
For the last 23 years, she's served as SASMO Chief.
"I watch them deploy. I help them to get their equipment ready to deploy. Sometimes they don't have any support when they're overseas, so they reach back and I help them as best I can and usually very successful, and then I'm here when they come back," said CW4 Lingeman.
Both say over their careers, a lot has changed, as women played very restricted roles in the beginning. Today, they now serve in all jobs and ranks.
"A lot of changes for the better — in the positions that we serve in now, and the things that we're able to do, it's taken a lot of work and effort," said MSG Miller.
Master Sergeant Miller even helped create a mentorship group in her unit to give new female soldiers guidance from seasoned veterans.
For those who may be thinking of enlisting, they both said to go for it, especially if they'd like to gain a second family.
"It’s a family operation, you know, good people in this organization, and you just do it. You'll find that in any unit, active duty or National Guard, because I found that same thing there," said CW4 Lingeman.
Master Sergeant Miller said she has three and a half years left before retirement, and Chief Warrant Officer Lingeman has just 22 drills left.
The two say retirement is required at 60 in the Michigan Army National Guard.
Both added they are looking to spend more time with their kids and grandchildren when that day arrives.
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