By Jocelyn Hauserman
US Army National Guard member Gabrielle Noviello is not your typical twenty-eight-year-old woman. Noviello is an Intelligence Analyst for the Guard and also the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C., where she performs that role as a civilian. She makes her home in Laurel, MD, and tells us about her experience as a woman working for and with the US Government and how she stays in shape as a fitness fanatic and runner.
JH: Can you tell us about what you do as an Inteligence Analyst for the Office of Naval Intelligence?
So for my civilian job, I actually can’t really talk about it, because it’s pretty highly classified [laughs], but I basically take raw data and look at it to determine what is important to us as far as our mission goes and what our customer is interested in (and when I say customer I mean the Government). I basically figure out what [information] is important and vital to our mission and then compile it into various different products.
JH: That’s awesome. Would you say that’s similar to what you do on the military side?
Yep, that’s exactly what I do on the military side, except the content is a little different because it’s for the Army, whereas on the civilian side I’m doing work for the Navy. So the products are a little different.
JH: Have you ever been deployed?
Yes I have been deployed once before. I served in Kuwait from 2011 to 2012, and I am getting ready to go on another deployment to Kuwait in a few weeks. I should hopefully be returning by the end of summer next year.
JH: Wow! That’s incredible. I’m sure your family will miss you! Moving forward, I’d like to ask: How important is physical fitness to you, and why?
So for me physical fitness takes on two priorities in my life: one is that I have to maintain a certain standard of physical fitness in order to stay in the military. I have certain requirements I have to meet in regards to how fast I have to run two miles and how many push-ups and sit-ups I can do in two minutes. That’s the standard physical fitness test I need to pass for the Army.
JH: How fast do you have to run the two miles?
Let’s see… I think it changes per age group, and for my age group I believe it’s about 19 minutes and 30 seconds for the two miles. So it’s not that bad. I easily pass because I can run faster than that. That’s just the maximum amount of time we are allowed. That and I think it’s about 19 push-ups that must be completed in two minutes, and something like 56 sit-ups in two minutes to pass. But I usually rock out the push-ups [laughs].
[laughs] Yeah I was going to say, you can probably do 20 pushups in about 20 seconds, let alone two minutes!
Yes. It’s like a point scale, so the more you do, the higher score you get on your PT test. But there is always that minimum requirement to pass.
Then the other priority [physical fitness] takes on in my life is basically just staying fit and staying healthy. To me feeling fit and healthy makes me feel happy. It makes me feel positive, which gives me a better outlook on my day and the rest of the world. I feel good about myself when I am fit and healthy. And that’s kind of evolved for me throughout the years, because once I realized what was healthy for me—what felt good to me as far as size, weight, and fitness level . . . opposed to what society thinks I should look like—fitness became much more important. So yeah, physical fitness plays those two different roles in my life.
JH: That’s really great! Not to get too far off-track from fitness, but branching out from what you were just talking about—how society views you—have you had any sort of struggle being a woman in the military? For instance, have you found any gender bias or discrimination, or do you think we are at a point now where that’s not really an issue anymore?
I think that society is definitely adapting to females actively participating in what used to be primarily male-dominated roles. I think society is moving forward in recognizing that women can do a lot of the same things that males can do. For instance, women are now allowed to go to Ranger School and do other things that were once restricted for females. I definitely think that’s a big step forward. Personally, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of a good organization, good units, and worked with fellow soldiers who have never made me feel inferior because I am a female. I’ve never really faced any instances of gender-based discrimination. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen—I have friends who have experienced it, but I think a lot of it has to do with the way you carry yourself. So for me, I always remain cognizant of who I am around, who my audience is, and I always remember that if I want people to take me seriously, I need to be serious. Sometimes that means that I need to work a little bit harder, and I’m okay with that. Because in the end, that’s what’s going to make me stand out and ultimately be beneficial for me. Is it unfortunate that women sometimes need to work a little bit harder to be seen equally and taken seriously? Yes. But, it’s a lot better than it used to be and we’ve made so much progress.
JH: That’s great to hear. So often in this day in age we hear about the female struggle, so it’s very refreshing and good to know that our military is making progress and breaking gender barriers.
Yeah—the one thing about the military that’s really great is that everyone starts on the same playing field. There is no pay gap based on gender. Everything is based on rank. Your advancement is strictly based on merit, capability, and fitness. I mean, there are certainly instances where women do not get what is deserved—where they have worked hard for a position and it’s been handed to a man—but overall, the military is a pretty level playing field. There are many women of high rank and power in the military, and I have been fortunate enough to have them as my role models.
JH: That’s so awesome! Again—very good to hear the progress we are making. But anyways, getting back to fitness—you said you run, correct?
I do, yes.
JH: Is it more for the physical aspect of being in shape or is there a mental aspect to it as well?
It’s definitely both. So when I first joined the military, I never used to run. But over the last few years I’ve been running a lot more. There’s something about that ‘runner’s high’ that you get—that second wind. I love it. So yeah, physically it’s great and you get in some great cardio, but it also just feels good. For instance you never come back from a run and say ‘man, I wish I never did that.’ It might be hard to get out the door, but once you’re out there and you finish, you feel so good. And it really relieves stress.
JH: What’s the most physically challenging feat you’ve every accomplished?
Tough Mudder, definitely, without a doubt [laughs]. That and I want to say the Army’s basic training. But they were both difficult for different reasons. For basic training it was more of just a shock. My body was just like ‘Whoa! What is this? What are you doing to me?!’ [laughs]. I was not used to that at all. Tough Mudder was difficult because it was stuff that I had never done before. It was 13 miles long, and we were climbing over stacked-up hay bales, digging ourselves in and out of trenches, carrying logs through the mud, and swimming through waters. It very hard, but it felt so good to finish it. I have a scar on my knee from it [laughs], but it was really fun. I will probably do another one.
JH: That’s great. Wrapping up, if you could offer one bit of advice to anyone who is up for a challenge—whether it be something like Tough Mudder or joining the US Army National Guard to protect our country and our freedom—what would it be?
I would tell them that the rewards are always worth the challenge. We are capable of more than we think. We just need to soldier on.
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Joscelyne Hauserman recently moved to Charlotte from central Pennsylvania. She graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing and a minor in Communications. She lives in Ballantyne with her boyfriend, Steve, and cat, Juniper. Joscelyne loves running, climbing, and anything outdoors!
