Boston College Police Officer Tina Hall ’98 is a captain in the Army National Guard.
BCPD Officer, Alum: 'Anywhere They Choose, I’m Happy to Go'
Following a colleague’s deployment, BCPD’s Hall prepares for her own
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At some point in the next few months, Tina Hall ’98 will get the order, and once again it will be time for her to trade one life for another.Once that happens, Hall will leave her colleagues in the Boston College Police Department and head off to join her comrades in the US Army National Guard for a one-year deployment — perhaps in Washington, DC, perhaps Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Anywhere they choose, I’m happy to go,” says Hall, who has been a BC police officer since 2008 and has served two military tours in Korea.
“There’s nothing greater than being able to defend your country. I love my soldiers. It’s the best job I’ve ever had: to be able to affect someone’s life positively, to let them know you’re the leader who cares about them.”
The BCPD has already bid farewell to another of its military-affiliated members this year, Officer William Reynolds, who last month shipped out to Iraq with his Army National Guard unit in Hingham. It’s the second deployment for Reynolds, a staff sergeant, who in 2004 served in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait. This time he is being joined by his twin brother Brian, who is attached to the Dorchester National Guard Armory.
While there was no formal BCPD send-off for Reynolds, Hall says, their fellow officers put together a farewell barbecue pot-luck dinner for him during his last shift.
“Billy has such a great spirit about him, and it’s so contagious,” says Hall. “We’ll miss him, definitely, but everyone understands the job he’s got to do.”
In a department that fosters close-knitted teamwork, those who serve in the military often develop their own special kind of camaraderie.
Serving on the midnight shift, Hall and Reynolds would have opportunities to share stories and observations about their life and times in the armed forces.
“We talk our own language,” says Hall, a West Palm Beach, Fla., native who majored in sociology and communication at BC. “We each have our own special perspective on the military, since he’s enlisted and I’m an officer. I would give him advice, some thoughts on what he could do for his career. When we’re talking about the military, it’s long term.”
Hall readily acknowledges that, even with all their training and preparation, soldiers can and do feel anxiety about deployment to an area of conflict. What will they find there? Will they make it back OK? What if they don’t? As a leader of soldiers, Hall says she is used to offering reassurance — and relishes the task.
“You let them know that they’ve gone through an incredible amount of training, whether it’s marksmanship or dealing with civilians in the battle area, and that they need to keep that with them. I tell them that ‘If you’re superb at this, you’ll be superb when your boots are on the ground.’
“I tell them that their platoon is their family, and when they’re over there they will look out for one another.”
Hall is not the first one, nor even the first female, in her family to serve in the military: Her mother was in the Army, spent four years in Korea, and now works in a Veterans’ Administration hospital; her two uncles also have military experience.
Rediscovering her place in the Boston College community the past two years has been very enjoyable for Hall, who credits former Director of AHANA Special Programs Donald Brown, a friend and mentor during her undergrad years, for encouraging her to apply to the BCPD. She also has been able to renew her friendships with Dean for Student Development Sheilah Shaw Horton and Assistant Dean for Student Development Paulette Durrett.
Until her orders come, Hall — having “been down this road before” — says she will focus on her work with BCPD and on finishing her master’s degree in the Woods College of Advancing Studies. “My goal is to have my parents come up in May and see me get my diploma, and for us to spend time together and enjoy ourselves. I love my job here at BC, but I also love the military, and I know that sooner or later I’m going to be with my buddies again — wherever that may be.”