Found in La Voz Latina (Savannah)
Written by John Newton
Posted on 2014-07-01
I interviewed Melissa Vargas four years ago in the spring of 2010. The Groves High School graduate had just been awarded a four-year congressional scholarship to attend the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York.
West Point has produced more than its share of military heroes as well as national business and political leaders so there was lots of prestige attached to Melissa’s appointment. The fact that she was both Latina and the first member of her family to attend college made her story even more interesting. A first-generation American citizen, both her parents are from Mexico (her father was born in Guadalajara and her mother in San Luis Potosi).
Last month I learned that 2nd Lieutenant Melissa Vargas had just graduated from West Point and was spending a few weeks at home in Savannah before reporting for duty as a Field Artillery Officer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in July.
We met at the Pooler Starbucks and I worried that I might not recognize her. You always hear parents marvel at how they send a soft goofy kid to boot camp and the Army sends them back a rough-tough fully-functional adult. But in Melissa’s case, she looked remarkable unchanged physically. She had the same long brown curls, large hazel eyes, sweet smile, and soft curves.
“Physically it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she admitted. “Especially those first three months when we had to prove we could make it as a basic soldier. But the two greatest gifts West Point gives a cadet is self-confidence and the belief that you can accomplish any goal when you work together as part of a team.”
In the beginning, Melissa pushed her body so hard to keep up with fellow freshmen cadets (also known as plebes) that she developed stress fractures in both hips.
“The pain was bad but the worst part was the fear that they might dismiss me from the Academy before I even had a chance to prove I could make it,” she said.
Fortunately, she was fully recovered by spring and healthy enough to join West Point’s Judo team, a sport she had never trained for previously.
“My judo coach, Lt. Col. Hector Morales, became one of my greatest mentors,” she said. “He taught me judo skills but he also taught me what it means to keep a good attitude and to never give up when things are tough. The West Point Judo team won five consecutive National Collegiate Judo titles under his leadership.”
Looking back, Melissa is proud that she was able to keep up with her male counterparts throughout the most rigorous physical training, including Cadet Leader Development Training or CLDT, three weeks of intense field exercises designed to replicate actual ground combat operations.
“I got a lot of personal satisfaction from being able to haul an M240B machine gun and ammo up the sides of some of the steepest mountains in the Catskills,” she said. “But when you don’t shower for eight-days straight, you really learn to love Baby Wipes.”
Melissa says that West Point’s academic requirements were very rigorous, but she managed to graduate with a strong grade-point average near 3.0, thanks in part to her strong language skills which now include Spanish, French and Portuguese.
“My major was information technology,” she said. “And for my Capstone project, I led a team of cadets in designing a guest orientation app that provides campus visitors with important information about campus landmarks and facilities. But if I get the chance to come back to West Point as an instructor, I think I’d really enjoy teaching in the Department of Foreign Languages.”
There has been a marked increase in reported incidents of sexual harassment in the military in recent years but Melissa said that was never a problem for her at West Point.
“We had lots of classes and educational seminars that taught cadets how to deal with the issue of unwanted sexual advances,” she said. “In fact, I think sometimes male cadets were so sensitized to the issue that they may have been afraid to engage in what a female cadet would probably have viewed as harmless fun. But the great thing about our extensive training is that we can now reach out to the soldiers in our units so they are comfortable in reporting harassment if it happens to them.”
President Barack Obama made national headlines in May when he gave the commencement speech to West Point’s Class of 2014 grads. President Obama told Melissa and her fellow senior cadets “You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
“I think the parents all felt a sense of relief when they heard the President’s words,” Melissa said. “But honestly, as Army officers, I think that cadets felt a little disappointed that we might not have the same opportunities to serve as previous grads. And please remember, all these comments are my own personal impressions as I do not speak in any way on behalf of the Army as an organization.”
One part of Melissa’s West Point experience that she especially enjoyed was the chance to embrace her cultural heritage.
“West Point has many Hispanic cadets, both from the United States as well as many countries in Latin America,” she said. “And I especially enjoyed the inter-academy competitions that we held with other military academies from around the world.”
Melissa says her positive attitude was the one thing her fellow cadets as well as military officers like Col. Bernard Banks who supervised her education and training agreed was her strongest attribute.
“Our Commandant of Cadets (Brig. Gen. Richard Clarke) made it a point to get to know many of us cadets by name and he told me he especially wanted to meet my mother when she came up for my graduation,” Melissa said. “That was because I had told him my positive attitude was something I inherited from my mother, Maria Vargas. She has always worked hard and she has been a great role model for me. My goal is to be a role model for other Latinos who want to succeed in life.”