4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
6/20/2013 - SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Imagine an Airman who disarms explosive devices for a living, rides a Harley Davidson for fun and has tattoos all over, illustrating stories of love, pain and triumph.
Now imagine this Airman with long blonde hair; an explosive ordnance disposal technician; a servicewoman.
She is Staff Sgt. Kimberly Pate, 4th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal NCO in charge of operations, who was recently named North Carolina Servicewoman of the Year by the American Legion Auxiliary Past Presidents Parley in Raleigh, N.C.
To be considered for the award, Pate submitted a 750-word narrative about why she supports the role of women in today's military. She was chosen to represent North Carolina servicewomen at the auxiliary's state convention and is invited to attend the national convention in August in San Antonio, Texas, where she will compete against 49 other nominees for the National Servicewoman title.
"Women have made many strides over the years and proven themselves capable to achieve things that others have seen as 'not fit for them,'" Pate wrote in her essay. "I fully support people following their dreams and shooting as high as they can. If a woman wants to fly a jet, provide medical attention in the field, fight on the front lines or disarm improvised explosive devices, I say go for it."
As a woman in the military, she's glad to be able to fulfill the mission and inspire young girls to do and be whatever they choose; setting a positive example for young females like her step-daughter means more to Pate than any accolade.
"My daughter, Brianna Pate, 13, thinks I could lift a car with one hand and take on the world with the other; she thinks I'm absolutely awesome," Pate said. "For her to know she can do anything she wants to do and being a girl doesn't count her out, is rewarding (for me). There's nothing that limits her."
Although she appreciates recognition for her accomplishments in the military, Pate finds most satisfaction in being afforded the opportunity to serve her nation.
Pate joined the Air Force because she wanted to travel the world and give back to her country.
"After attending college for a while but not being sure of what exactly I wanted to do with my life, I finally went to talk to an Air Force recruiter," Pate said. "He asked me if I wanted to play with robots and blow stuff up for a living, so I said 'sign me up.'"
That visit to the recruiter's office marked the beginning of Pate's nearly 10-year career in EOD.
After waiting months for a position to open up in the career field, she was off to Air Force basic military training, then EOD technical training shortly thereafter.
Greatly outnumbered by men during technical training, Pate felt she needed to prove herself to become part of the EOD family. She did, and graduated at the top of her class.
When asked about the many triumphs throughout her career, Pate attributes them to the support she's received from the EOD technicians she's worked with in addition to her family.
"(EOD) is very much a family. No one can really understand it until they're a part of it. Regardless of branch of service, if you see our occupational badge on someone, you instantly know them; you would back them in anything and give them the shirt off of your back." Pate said. "My teammates can understand more in a silent conversation than anyone else can (after) days of talking. Anytime I feel like I need to get something out or relate to someone, these guys are who I look to."
With high deployment tempos and the daily dangers EOD technicians face, Pate had to learn to balance work, emotions and home life for her safety and the welfare of those around her.
"We're trained really well to get in 'go mode,'" she explained. "You set emotions and everything up on a little shelf in a box. You have a job to do so that's what you're going to do. You might realize an hour after you're done with a call something might have happened, but at the time of an emergency you're going step by step through threat analysis."
Although placing sentiments aside in times of crisis is a common practice for the EOD community, Pate never forgets that what she and her teammates do for their nation often end with the ultimate sacrifice.
"The longer you've been in this career field, the more people you know that go up on the (EOD memorial wall)," she said. "It's always in the back of your mind that there's a possibility you could end up on that wall, but it's such an honor to go out doing what you love and saving other people's lives. We want to be the ones to keep everyone else safe."
She knows all too well how costly the price of freedom is.
In 2011, Pate's husband, U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. EJ Pate, former EOD technician, was killed by an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan. This tragic event was a turning point in Pate's career that led her to continue striving for greatness.
"About a month from coming home on my second deployment was when I was notified of my husband's death," she explained with pain in her eyes and a quivery voice.
The Pates were both deployed at the same time; she to Southwest Asia and he to Afghanistan. Her husband recently returned from a week-long mission and emailed her just to say he was back, safe and would call in the morning. A couple hours later, he woke up to tell her he couldn't sleep and wanted to let her know he was thinking about her and loved her. The entire next day, Pate just had a feeling she was going to get a phone call, whether it'd be from her husband or his unit.
She had the day off and decided to see a movie with some of her teammates and emailed her husband before heading off. During the movie, she received the call that changed her life.
Thoughts raced through Pate's mind as she tried to figure out a purpose for the call. Her mind drew a blank until she saw her new commander, his eyes blood-shot and swollen. At that point she knew.
"I dropped everything in my hands, stumbled back into the desk (and asked) 'what happened to my husband?'" Pate said.
They didn't answer.
"I knew at that point something horrible was wrong. They wouldn't talk; they just shook their heads, looked down and said 'I'm sorry.'" Pate said. "I remember screaming, yelling, asking them what happened; 'just tell me he's breathing, he got hurt. Do I need to go to Germany; do I need to meet him somewhere, is he okay?'"
Although she doesn't remember much of the conversation, she does remember they finally calmed her down and she fell to the floor, curled up sobbing and cried so hard she felt sick.
Her husband's unit notified her of the incident as early as possible, at the time they weren't sure if he was alive or not. According to Pate, his unit did everything they could to save her husband.
"I drove straight out to the flightline, ran up on the back of a C-130 with a backpack and headed to Germany because his body was not going to move without me. I was on the (flight that brought him home) and escorted him throughout the whole funeral."
In the time since her husband's death, Pate has tried to keep his memory alive, honor him and continue his work.
In order to commemorate her late husband, Pate submitted photos of her and her husband's matching tattoos and the story behind each piece of art for an EOD service member tattoo book.
"The bomb on the wrist was a matching tattoo EJ and I got because we didn't want the standard (EOD occupational badge) tattoo, but we wanted something to represent our job," she wrote in the book. "The bleeding heart, (with the script) 'Tantum Quondam,' is because everything in life is only once. You only live once, truly love once and die once ... EJ was my one true love and now he is gone."
If asked, Pate would say although life has brought her trials and tribulations, she finds solace in knowing what she does helps protect and defend her nation and its people.
After this tragic event, Pate was given the opportunity to step away from the EOD career field and move on with her life but instead chose to stay and "finish the job."
"I tell my kids all the time their dad died doing something with a purpose. I am extremely proud of what he did," Pate said. "We do our job; we do everything we can. Anyone in our position would do the same thing."
While her husband's death has altered her life and career, it doesn't define her as a person. She is an EOD technician, a woman in the military who said she is proud to be a wife, mother and servicewoman.
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