At 52, Howard, who had gray hair and an infectious smile, became the oldest known American woman to die in combat.

The fact that she was even here, serving as a gunner on a Humvee, shows the drain that two wars have put on an all-volunteer military. She was the new face of the military’s civil affairs units, which do reconstruction and relief work. Constant deployments have tapped out the regular Army Reservists who most often filled those jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Howard never had been deployed before, not since joining the Reserves on a whim in 1988. After her medical unit was disbanded in 1996, she was assigned to the Individual Ready Reserves, for soldiers without a unit. She still went to monthly drills but mainly handled paperwork, biding her time, putting in her 20 years before earning retirement benefits.

But as a stopgap–and in a first for the U.S. military–provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were being filled by a mix of Navy, Air Force, Army, National Guard and Reserve soldiers. And many in the Reserves were like Howard, in the Individual Ready Reserves, home also to retired soldiers who had recently left the Army. A few regular reservists, such as Paul, volunteered for civil affairs. The rest, such as Howard, were called up last December.

“We were a little surprised,” said Master Sgt. Robyn Fees, 50, who became a close friend of Howard’s after the two were called up. “We didn’t even know what `civil affairs’ was, to be honest with you.”

Howard was a no-frills woman, more comfortable pounding a hammer than wearing a dress, those who served with her said. In Afghanistan, she often visited the base area known as Home Depot, where the wood was stored, and built herself a rudimentary armoire and a side table. Her hammer still sits in her room on base. An unfinished picture frame, made from Afghan carved wood she bought at a local bazaar, waits on her desk.

She was used to challenges. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Howard wanted to be a firefighter, but her hometown did not hire women. So in 1978 she joined the department in Bryan, Texas, as its first female firefighter. She later became a fire risk-management specialist with insurance companies, eventually helping set up a consulting company in California.

In 1991, Howard started dating Hugh Hvolboll, who made fireworks for a living. “You set them off, and I’ll decide how much damage they cause,” Howard would joke. In 2004 the couple moved to Waukesha for his job. They never felt the need to get married, not until she was called up in December. Slightly nervous, Howard wanted to make their relationship official.

“As a boyfriend, I would have no status with the Army,” Hvolboll said. “As a husband, I did.”

In late April, the nine members of Howard’s civil affairs team arrived at the Mehtarlam base in eastern Laghman province. They formed the core of the provincial reconstruction team. [snip]

Howard’s death makes her the oldest U.S. servicewoman known to have died in combat, said Judy Bellafaire, chief historian at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation near Arlington National Cemetery. A 52-year-old nurse died in Vietnam, but from a stroke, she said. Even so, there still was some uncertainty. Records for World War II and earlier conflicts often omit ages.

On missions in Afghanistan, Paul was the driver and Howard was the gunner, standing on the box to make up for her height, about 5-foot-4. For Afghans in this conservative tribal area, where most women wear burqas that cover everything, it must have been a bizarre sight: a gray-haired woman in a helmet on top of a Humvee.

“THAT’S WHY SGT. HOWARD LOVED THE TURRET,” SAID AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN BRENDA PATTERSON, 26. “SHE WANTED TO GIVE LITTLE GIRLS DREAMS OF THEIR OWN.”

The supply run to Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, happened every month or two. On this trip, the soldiers picked up mail, ammunition, supplies and three new Humvees, with adjustable platforms for the gunner.

Bryan-College Station Eagle

Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard died as she had lived her life: serving others. From her time as a Bryan firefighter right out of college - Texas A&M University, of course - to her time with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Howard lived to make life safer and better for the rest of us.

Hers also was a life of firsts: member of the first women’s tennis team at A&M and Bryan’s first female firefighter. She entered the record books for a much sadder reason on Friday, becoming the oldest female soldier killed in combat in the War on Terror. She was killed in Kabul when a suicide car bomber blew himself up next to the Humvee in which she was riding. She was 52.

The Corpus Christi native was actually the second woman to complete the rigorous and demanding eight-week firefighter recruit training session at A&M’s Brayton Fire School, but the first to join the Bryan department. She was tough - she had to be as the first woman in a traditionally all-male job - but she quickly won the respect and admiration of her peers. She worked with others in the department to develop a way to recharge the department’s respiration tanks on site. And, showing her compassion for others, Howard helped start a car wash to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association and “Jerry’s kids.”

Her eagerness to help others led Howard at the age of 34 to join the U.S. Army Reserve as a medical equipment repairer in 1988. Her unit was called to active duty last fall and was deployed to Afghanistan in April. There, Howard and her comrades helped rebuild roads and schools and other infrastructure needed to help that devastated nation move into the 21st century.

Houston Chronicle

“She joined the Army because she thought it was something she should do,” said David White, Howard’s instructor at the Brayton Fire School. “She was just one of those people who inspires you.”

Howard, a Corpus Christi native, graduated with a master’s in marine resource management from Texas A&M University in 1978. She joined the Bryan Fire Department that year, working at Fire Station 1 as an engine driver for about 3 1/2 years.

Initially, some were apprehensive about her. But she fit in within a short amount of time. She helped set up an onsite air system allowing the department to fill its own respiration tanks, said Bryan Fire Department Chief Mike Donoho.

“By doing a good job and gaining respect, it gave everyone else a better chance. They had an easier road ahead of them because of what she established,” Donoho told the Bryan-College Station Eagle.