AUSTIN — Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service of Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Melissa Harcrow who served in U.S. Army.
Harcrow was born in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1984 and moved around during her childhood while her father was in the service. She attended Burges Highschool in 2002 and joined the Army after graduation and receiving a call from a recruitment officer. Following boot camp training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, she selected the job of a unit supply specialist.
“My first duty station was Fort Hood, Texas, which is now Fort Cavazos. I was assigned to headquarters, 2nd chemical battalion. I made some friends and learned more about my job. I was in the S4 section, so it was helping manage the government vehicle and doing reports for equipment.”
“We deployed at various times between the end of March to April of 2003. First, we went to Kuwait, and then we convoyed into Iraq. We were a chemical battalion, so we issued some decontamination equipment to other units that were there before they left to Iraq. Then in April we went into Iraq.”
Her time in Iraq was spent at the Balad Air Base where she worked burn detail and guard duty and escorted other officers around and off post. After her deployment, Harcrow returned to Texas. In August 2004, she had her daughter and, shortly after, reenlisted. She then went to Korea in May 2005.
“I got to explore the culture, and I had a great leader who pushed me to work towards getting promoted. Overall, my time there was very good. I was in the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion.”
After her time in Korea, Harcrow returned to the U.S. and was located at Fort Bliss, Texas in 2006. At this point in her career, Harcrow had been promoted multiple times and her next deployment was to Qatar in 2007 as the Company Supply Sergeant.
“I had a really good command team, and my job consisted of a lot of inventory and keeping track of equipment. We did travel back and forth to Kuwait a few times to do those inventories, and that’s where I met my husband, who was in the same company. We were in Echo Company 343 Air Defense Artillery Battalion.”
Harcrow returned to Fort Bliss in 2008 after her deployment to Qatar and in 2011 was accepted into Warrant Officer Training School.
“It was a combination of one of my bosses encouraging me to go who was a warrant officer, and I loved my job," Harcrow said when asked about being accepted into Warrant Officer Training School. "It was something I wanted to do, I was also a subject matter expert. It’s a lot of academic type work, but also field training and ruck marches. It’s very disciplined, too.”
Following her graduation from Warrant Officer Training School, Harcrow moved to Fort Campbell in Kentucky where she assisted the Property Book Officer (PBO) for 2nd Brigade Combat Team – 101st Airborne Division. Shortly after this time, she was deployed to Afghanistan with the 184th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Battalion to Afghanistan but returned to be with her children. She then finished her time with the Army in 2014.
Melissa Harcrow returned to school and completed her bachelor's and master's in logistics and operations management. From her time in the Army, she received five army commendations, five army achievement medals, three good conduct medals, NCO of the year, and other awards. She is currently involved in several Veterans’ organizations, including Team Red, White, and Blue, Texas Democratic Veterans, and U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and has been a Chair for the El Paso Veterans Committee for the past three years. She is also on the board for the Women’s Fund of El Paso and was just appointed to the El Paso County Women’s Commission.
When asked about what she has learned from her experience in the Army and after leaving the service, Harcrow says, “Get involved with your community, somehow someway. Always give 100% even when there’s days you feel like you’re done. You’re going to get through it.”
To listen to CW2 Melissa Harcrow tell her story of service in the U.S. Army, click the button below:
Veterans can email VoicesofVeterans@glo.texas.gov to tell their stories. Please note that the Veteran must be a resident of Texas at the time of their interview.
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below: