Tough Girl: She's chatty, likes make-up and manicured nails; but for now, her home is Iraq with the U.S. Army

Miranda Pressley's mom wasn't happy when her daughter told that she had signed up for the Army.

She thought about her brother, an Army specialist, who was killed in Egypt just before the first Gulf War.

She thought about her father, also in the Army, whose job meant that she grew up moving from place to place.

Miranda, the oldest of her three children, was supposed to go to culinary school. She had looked at Johnson and Wales's Charlotte campus, but the $20,000 tuition was daunting -- pretty much unimaginable in her eyes.

And then there was the matter of Miranda's personality. She was a girly-girl, a cheerleader who also played in the band at Western Guilford High School. She's gregarious and chatty and was never without eye shadow and mascara. Her family and boyfriend at the time thought that there was no way she was going to conform to the military.

"They actually made bets when I was in basic training on how soon it would be until I got in trouble," Miranda said. "My mom said I was going to have a problem keeping my mouth shut."

Today, Miranda is a sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division, First Battalion out of Fort Campbell, Ky. She's currently serving her second tour in Iraq with the 426th Brigade Support Battalion.

Terri moved to Winston-Salem from Germanton during Miranda's last year of high school. Miranda ended up getting a GED from Forsyth Technical Community College because of issues with transferring credit, Terri said.

After that, she spent her time working various jobs around town, including the Fresh Market and the Fox & Hound pub and restaurant.

That's when she began to look into culinary school. She considered enlisting in the Army Reserves as a way to help pay for it, but on a whim in 2004, she decided to sign up for the Army. Terri remembers that she was making dinner when Miranda told what she had done. "I thought for the first time in my adult life that I am going to faint,'" Terri said.

It wasn't easy for Miranda at first. Terri remembers talking to her on the phone when she was in training. "She called every day, crying and bawling," Terri said.

Her mother wouldn't let her quit. "I said, ‘Once you decided you're going to do something, you're going to finish it. Once you commit, you finish it. If you fail, that's fine. It's not meant to be. But you're going to finish it.'"

Today, she still gets phone calls. Miranda calls her about once a week, sometimes when Terri's at work at Panera Bread on Hanes Mall Boulevard, where she works in the bakery.

But there isn't much crying. Both mother and daughter seemed to have gotten used to what they couldn't imagine.

Terri tries to limit her news intake of the war. At work, she wears a laminated badge with Miranda's photo on it. "Forget the sugar and spice," it reads. "Girls are made from real heart, guts and soul."

In Iraq, Miranda installs and repairs radio and GPS equipment in trucks on her base in Tikrit. There's hot weather, and sandstorms, and in the rainy season, downpours.

On her days off, she cleans her room and watches DVDs. She's enrolled in college online and working toward a degree in business administration. "I never go off the base, ever. I'm pretty safe," she said recently during a telephone interview from Iraq.

Still, Miranda remembers that she'll be in the Army until 2012. Regardless of what presidential candidate wins the November election, there's likely to be a long road ahead in Iraq. She's getting to the age when she wants to think about starting a family.

"The military has a lot to offer. So with that being said, I know that I'm going to be over here another two or three times," she said. "It's a lifestyle, you have to adapt to it. Jobs don't (usually) send you to Iraq."

On the other hand, she feels like the Army has taught her how to be self-reliant.

And the Army has brought her love. Her fiance, Chad Dragan, drives fuel trucks. He is a sergeant in the same unit.

They plan to get married around Christmas in a civil ceremony when they return from Iraq, then have a reception in March 2009 in Gatlinburg, Tenn. She dreams of being a wedding planner someday.

Because part of her is still a girly-girl.

"I hate to get dirty," she said. "I will because my job requires it. I hate being told what to do. I like to be able to get nails done, shop and wear make-up. I like to look pretty, and you can't really look pretty in the Army."

■ Laura Giovanelli can be reached at 727-7302 or at lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com.