A few weeks ago a young lady that I know, respect and fear named Sisu MilSim suggested that I contact Christine about being one of the future featured players on The Warrior Blog. Since that point I have talked to her both online and via phone and found her to be an intriguing and highly educated woman, who is passionate about all areas of her life. It was my great privilege to get to know her through the process of putting together this post and I hope you will enjoy this Player Highlight of another one of the Slaydies of AirSoft! - Padre'
Growing
up, I was definitely a tomboy. I
preferred making tree houses and climbing down window wells catching toads with
the boys to playing dress up and Barbies with the girls. I was always dirty, always running around,
always trying to go on new and exciting adventures. When I was 4, my mother decided that I needed
an outlet for all my energy and that outlet turned out to be softball.
Fast-forwarding to 2010; I was a
Junior at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside playing Division II softball as
a starting Center Fielder and met my fiancé (and Nemesis Milsim team Captain),
call sign Zero. From the beginning, he
was always trying to get me to come to airsoft with him and repeatedly I said,
“no thanks.” I had convinced myself that airsoft was his way to hang out and
have “guy time” and I didn’t want to intrude.
In addition, I had never heard him talk about any girls playing airsoft,
which gave me the impression that airsoft was a hobby better suited to men. Despite my reservations, he kept asking me to
come to a team practice and I finally did in the winter of 2011.
The first time I ever played Airsoft, it was a very cold, snowy,
and damp day. As I prepped myself to head onto the field dressed in
old-school/oversized woodland camis and tennis shoes, I distinctly remember
looking at the more experienced operators and feeling completely out of place.
My gear was not the greatest, I'd never even held an Airsoft gun before, and I
was the only girl taking the field with a group of guys who had been playing
with each other for years. To say that I was out matched would be an
understatement. However, as soon as I ran onto the field none of that mattered
anymore. My adrenaline spiked, I became very aware of the speed and sound of my
own movements, and as I darted from tree to tree in pursuit of OPFOR I knew
that although it was my first time playing Airsoft, it would definitely not be
my last.
I've now been playing Airsoft for 4-5 years as an official
member of Nemesis Milsim (Northern IL/ Southern WI) and am incredibly
passionate about the sport. After a brief hiatus due to graduate school
obligations, I played my first national event in 2014 at American Milsim’s Op
Broken Home III. I got a brief taste of
the Medic role on day 2 when our official squad Medic left to do his Helo run
and I loved every second of it. As soon
as we got back to Illinois, I told anyone that would listen that I wanted to be
the team’s official Medic. A few months
later, I played my first full event as a Medic at American Milsim’s Op Ironclad. At Ironclad I really feel that I came into my
own as a player and my Milsim identity was further cemented by the fact that
people started calling me the “Milsim Medic.”
It’s a difficult feeling to describe, but as a Medic I felt at home on
the field. 
My favorite game play style is definitely CQB. I love how fast-paced and intense it is. I’m the type of player that thrives in
high-stress games that test athleticism.
In fact, I am usually so active on the field that there’s hardly ever a
time where you won’t see me running during an Op. Which is probably why the Medic role fits me
so well. My primary load-out is built to
emphasize speed over firepower and consists of an LBT 6094 plate-carrier with a
Blue Force Gear 10 speed, a Krytac CRB, and Vasque Breeze 2.0 GTX Boots. However, my favorite piece of equipment is
the hot pink Kydex holster that I
Nemesis Milsim has been an official airsoft team since 2007 and
originated in Crystal Lake Illinois (about an hour Northwest of Chicago). Like many teams in the Midwest, we originally
started playing together on a very secluded, unregulated, and heavily wooded
field. At the time, airsoft was just
starting to become popular in our area and there were only a few regulated
fields that weren’t exclusively used for paintball. Thinking back, however, this field is home to
some of my fondest airsoft and life memories. It’s where I first learned to
play, where I met many of my current teammates, and also where my fiancé took
me on our first date. Which consisted of
off-roading, getting stuck in the mud, getting the vehicle un-stuck with the
help of friends, and literally ten minutes later, popping a tire.
*The follow video excerpt shows the MilSim Medic in action - the credit for the video goes to the NightStalkers Tactical Airsoft Team, the video can be seen @ Op Ironclad - Padre'
Nemesis has been hosting airsoft events since 2013 at our home
field, Promisedland Paintball (Bristol, WI), which is a Department of Defense
regulated field sometimes used by the Marine Corp for training purposes. Since we’ve started hosting events, I’ve
taken a more active role in team administration (reffing, event registration)
and I also act as a member of the OPFOR in short, but also very intense
scenarios we call, “SIM’s” or “Squad Immersion Missions.” In 2013, we also started attending national
ops and gained our very first team sponsor, Tactical Toy Store (Waukesha,
WI). Tactical Toy Store Provides us with
BB’s and smoke grenades or every national event we attend and are also on hand
at all of the events we host to take care of the players’ gear needs.
Last year (2014) I received my Master’s degree in History from
Marquette University, while specializing in British History. In fact, my Master’s thesis focused on
tourism at the Tower of London in the 1870’s.
During this time, the Tower underwent several reconstruction and
preservation projects. One in particular, at the St. Peter ad Vincula Chapel
(the Tower chapel), required that the bodies of famous execution victims from
the reign of Henry VIII (like the ill-fated Queen, Anne Boleyn) be
exhumed. Since the forensic field was
not highly developed at this point in time, the workers responsible for removing
the bodies had to rely on historic records and descriptions of the dead in
order to identify them. The public interest surrounding the identification of
the bodies led many tourists to visit the Tower of London and ultimately
created a demand for the reevaluation of Henry VIII’s place in British culture
and history.
Eventually, I hope to apply to a PhD program so that I can
continue my history studies. In the meantime, I’ve recently accepted an offer
to join Teach for America’s 2015 Chicago Corp.
For those of you not familiar, Teach for America (TFA) is a highly
selective alternative teaching certification program that seeks to achieve
transformational change in impoverished communities by combating the
educational achievement gap in American society. TFA does this by taking college graduates and
placing them as teachers in urban schools, where poverty and sub-par test
scores are usually the standard. I’m
very excited for the opportunity to teach and mentor young kids and I sincerely
hope that I will be able to positively impact my students’ lives.
Overall, I think one of the most enjoyable parts about playing
airsoft, besides the game play, is definitely how the sport connects you to
people that you would never have met otherwise.
I’ve met so many friends in so many different states and countries by
playing this sport and I am so grateful to have met every single one of them. I
can’t wait to see what the 2015 season has in store for me. Thanks for checking
out my player profile and for giving me the opportunity to share a little bit
about myself with you guys. I hope to see you all at American Milsim’s OpBroken Home 4 (May 23-24). :-)
MilsimMedic Facebook Page; https://www.facebook.com/MilsimMedic
MilsimMedic Instagram Page; https://instagram.com/milsimmedic5/
Nemesis Milsim Facebook Page; https://www.facebook.com/nmairsoft
Promisedland Paintball Field Website; http://www.promisedland.com
Tactical Toy Store Website; http://www.tacticaltoystoreusa.com
