Spring Break
Things I've Learned, with the Blue Jay Battalion's Major Levy
Issue date: 11/20/08
Major Heather Levy has been awarded a Purple Heart, has demolished bridges, can disarm live land mines and has completed two tours of duty in Iraq.
She worked as an Army engineer until she came to Hopkins as an assistant professor of military science as part of the cadre of the ROTC Blue Jay Battalion.
Levy spoke to the News-Letter about the many places she has been stationed during her Army career and her experiences in serving in hazardous duty situations.
News-Letter (N-L): What made you decide to join the army?
Major Levy (HL): I think it was a combination of a couple things. I was a high school student, and like a lot of our students I was going to University of California at Berkeley on the west coast.
It was kind of a combination of a little bit of patriotism and wanting to give back to the country because I'd gone to public high schools and I was going to a state university system.
I thought, "OK, I can give something back." And I thought it would be a little bit of an adventure. I honestly figured I would do two years' active duty, put in my paperwork and go for a "real" job.
N-L: How old were you when you joined the army?
HL: I signed my ROTC contract when, I guess I would have been 20. Then I was commissioned in the army at 22. So I came in on active duty as a second lieutenant at 22, when I graduated from college.
N-L: What made you decide to teach at Hopkins?
HL: I had just come back - I was actually assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. - and I was looking for work, a position that would be challenging and different from what I'd done before.
I had come from being a brigade engineer, [a position which entails directing] a unit of about 5,000 people at the time.
I was responsible for coordinating all of the engineering efforts. And that included things from route clearance of roadside bombs to reconstruction efforts to little things like "Can we build a soccer field for this family?" It was a totally different world.
She worked as an Army engineer until she came to Hopkins as an assistant professor of military science as part of the cadre of the ROTC Blue Jay Battalion.
Levy spoke to the News-Letter about the many places she has been stationed during her Army career and her experiences in serving in hazardous duty situations.
News-Letter (N-L): What made you decide to join the army?
Major Levy (HL): I think it was a combination of a couple things. I was a high school student, and like a lot of our students I was going to University of California at Berkeley on the west coast.
It was kind of a combination of a little bit of patriotism and wanting to give back to the country because I'd gone to public high schools and I was going to a state university system.
I thought, "OK, I can give something back." And I thought it would be a little bit of an adventure. I honestly figured I would do two years' active duty, put in my paperwork and go for a "real" job.
N-L: How old were you when you joined the army?
HL: I signed my ROTC contract when, I guess I would have been 20. Then I was commissioned in the army at 22. So I came in on active duty as a second lieutenant at 22, when I graduated from college.
N-L: What made you decide to teach at Hopkins?
HL: I had just come back - I was actually assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. - and I was looking for work, a position that would be challenging and different from what I'd done before.
I had come from being a brigade engineer, [a position which entails directing] a unit of about 5,000 people at the time.
I was responsible for coordinating all of the engineering efforts. And that included things from route clearance of roadside bombs to reconstruction efforts to little things like "Can we build a soccer field for this family?" It was a totally different world.
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