FORWARD OPERATING BASE LINDSEY, Afghanistan –“Who told them my nickname was monkey?” Sgt. Alyssa Turner asked as she surveyed her desk, wrapped entirely in saran wrap and barricaded behind a stack of water bottles festooned with a variety of monkey pictures sporting birthday wishes.
Her sister, Staff Sgt. Lorena Anderson, confessed as a group of soldiers gathered at Turner’s office to see her reaction to the mischief they had orchestrated while she was out on a mission.
Turner, a paralegal specialist and female engagement team noncommissioned officer in-charge with 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, celebrated her 26th birthday at Forward Operating Base Lindsey Oct. 23. Unlike most deployed soldiers celebrating birthdays downrange, however, Turner got to spend hers with family.
Anderson, Turner’s sister who is deployed as a veterinary food inspector with the 438th Medical Detachment based out of Fort Carson, Colo., and stationed at FOB Lagman, used a four-day pass to surprise Turner for her birthday.
U.S. Army Sgt. Allysa Turner (left), paralegal specialist and female engagement team noncommissioned officer in-charge with 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, relaxes with her older sister, Staff Sgt. Lorena Anderson, veterinary food inspector with the 438th Medical Detachment after a FET mission Oct. 23, 2012, at Forward Operating Base Lindsey, Afghanistan. Anderson arranged to visit Turner at Forward Operating Base Lindsey, Afghanistan, for Turner’s birthday Oct. 23, 2012. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Lori
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LINDSEY, Afghanistan –“Who told them my nickname was monkey?” Sgt. Alyssa Turner asked as she surveyed her desk, wrapped entirely in saran wrap and barricaded behind a stack of water bottles festooned with a variety of monkey pictures sporting birthday wishes.
Her sister, Staff Sgt. Lorena Anderson, confessed as a group of soldiers gathered at Turner’s office to see her reaction to the mischief they had orchestrated while she was out on a mission.
Turner, a paralegal specialist and female engagement team noncommissioned officer in-charge with 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, celebrated her 26th birthday at Forward Operating Base Lindsey Oct. 23. Unlike most deployed soldiers celebrating birthdays downrange, however, Turner got to spend hers with family.
Anderson, Turner’s sister who is deployed as a veterinary food inspector with the 438th Medical Detachment based out of Fort Carson, Colo., and stationed at FOB Lagman, used a four-day pass to surprise Turner for her birthday.
Anderson, on her first deployment despite 10 years of active service, said there is nowhere else she would rather spend her liberty pass than with her sister, even though Turner didn’t have time off.
At first, Anderson’s command wanted her to go to Kandahar Airfield for her pass, suggesting that Turner meet her there, but Turner’s unit doesn’t give four-day passes. Instead, Anderson convinced her unit to send her to Lindsey where she could spend time with her sister.
