ACC-RI employee's family defines military service

By Liz Adrian, Army Contracting Command-Rock IslandNovember 10, 2015

ACC-RI employee's family defines military service
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. - When reflecting upon her family's military roots that go back to the 18th century, she is filled with pride for her family's service during the past 200-plus years.

"On my dad's side, we can trace our family back to the Revolutionary War," said Cathy Raines, secretary, Reachback Division, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island. "There has been a family member that has fought in every war that we have been in since then, up to and including what we are doing today."

In 1966, her dad had just completed his residency and started a physician practice in the Quad Cities, and her mom was pregnant with her fourth child, when he received his Army draft notice for Vietnam.

"Not wanting to leave a young family, he talked with the Air Force's Medical Corp there and got this draft changed to the Air Force," said Raines. "So during Vietnam, he served from 1966-1968, and we were stationed at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.

Raines and two of her brothers - Stephen Phillis and Mike Phillis - also served in the military.

"My older brother, Stephen, is an Air Force Academy graduate and became an A-10 pilot," said Raines. "He was killed in action during Desert Storm."

Her brother Mike, a retired lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves, was in Iraq during Desert Storm at the same time as Stephen and ended up escorting Stephen's remains home. Raines said Mike was also in Mogadishu at the same time as the Blackhawk helicopter downing, and has been deployed several times both to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Raines, a veteran who served in the Navy between 1981-1985, said she became interested in serving when she was a foreign exchange student in Stockholm, Sweden, her senior year of high school.

"While I was there, I was introduced to the assistant Naval attaché at our embassy in Stockholm," said Raines. "I became friends with his family and even babysat his kids, so I was introduced to the Navy in that way. When I came home from there and went to school, I was not real happy with being under mom and dad's thumb, and not sure what to study in school, so I joined the Navy and served four years."

Raines said she didn't have a chance to travel overseas because her jobs - starting as a yeoman and ending as a second class legal man - didn't have sea billets.

While she was in the Navy, she met her future husband, Rick, and together they decided that he would remain in the Navy - retiring as a master chief in 1998. She stayed home to raise their four sons. All four of them have either served or are currently in the military.

Their oldest son, Jacob, was in the Georgia Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan, June 2009-April 2010.

"While he was in Afghanistan, his oldest daughter was born, but fortunately, he could take two weeks of R&R so he was there for her birth and for the first two weeks," said Raines. "He did his time and then wound up getting out."

Their son, Matthew, earned a full ROTC Navy scholarship and attended the Citadel.

"When he left there, he was the No. 3 student in rank when he graduated, so that was pretty awesome," said Raines.

Matthew served four years and also spent time in Afghanistan. He is still a captain in the Marine Reserve, and serves as a police officer for the Charleston Police Department in South Carolina.

Their third son, Stephen, joined the Marines and after serving four years, left the service in January 2015.

"It's not that he didn't want to continue to be a Marine," said Raines. "I think he was frustrated with the fact that there was lack of funds and they cut training. He got out and both he and his wife are going to college in Jacksonville, North Carolina."

In September, Raines's 22-year-old son, Sam, started Army boot camp at Fort Benning, Georgia.

"I think he wanted to follow in his brothers' footsteps, and I think he always had the bug, but when he turned 18, he got a tattoo that prevented him from joining," said Raines. "This year the Army lifted its tattoo regulations and because of that, he was able to join."

Raines said people occasionally ask how she can let all of her children serve. She tells them that since she served, she can't tell them no, and also that it is an honor to serve, so she naturally encourages them.

"It is a good starting point for people who don't know what they want," said Raines. "It is a great way to get some life skills under you while someone is putting a roof over your head and putting clothes on your back. I'm very proud of all of them."

Raines said because she served during peacetime, she doesn't always feel like a veteran, but Veterans Day is a special day for her to think of people who have had to fight. It's also a day for her to reflect on all of the opportunities she had while serving.

"I did some things at the age of 19 that some people would never have dreamed of, and I'm still sometimes in awe over it," said Raines. "Plus, I made it through boot camp, which not a lot of people can say they've done. That in itself has always been a big accomplishment."

Related Links:

Army Contracting Command-Rock Island website

Army Contracting Command-Rock Island Facebook