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thedrifter
12-26-07, 09:01 AM
'Runt' comes up big in Iraq
After two tours of duty, diminutive RPI graduate and Saratoga Springs native has two Bronze Stars

By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
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First published: Tuesday, December 25, 2007
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Her brother Thomas calls her "runt." Soldiers in Iraq had a different tag: commander.

Julia Brennan Dorans, a product of Saratoga Springs, stands at 5 feet 4 inches -- well, "almost," she says. Her mom pegs it closer to 5 feet 2 inches.

But the oldest of her family's four children has grown tremendously since graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute six years ago through the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.

The engineering major paid back the military with two tours of duty in Iraq, where she ultimately became a platoon leader of about 20 soldiers at a base south of Baghdad. She earned two Bronze Stars.

The chemical officer returned from her latest tour to a hero's welcome in the city on Dec. 19. After spending the holiday season with her family, she'll go back to Fort Richardson in Alaska to command about 140 soldiers in the Army's 95th Chemical Company.

Her size and gender sometimes became an issue with male soldiers who reported to her, but Dorans said she depended on professionalism and a strong "command presence" to win respect.

"You're not as big as I feel," Dorans would bark, only half-joking, at wise guys. It usually defused the moment, she said.

Dorans, 28, was born in Glens Falls and grew up in Saratoga Springs. She has two brothers, Thomas, 20, and Andrew, 10, and one sister, Jennifer, 27.

Her diminutive size earned her the nickname "Runt" among family members. Andrew is already just an inch shorter than Julia.

"She's tiny, but she's a feisty person," said her mother, Valerie Gilchrist.

Dorans hails from a military family. Her maternal grandfather, Charles Griffin of Florida, served 22 years in the Air Force during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and her father, William Brennan of Saratoga Springs, lost his leg while serving in the Army, Gilchrist said.

"It wasn't a stretch when the Army offered her ROTC," Gilchrist said.

The military paid for most of Dorans' education at RPI, and she graduated into four years of active service and four years of reserve duty.

After training as a chemical officer at bases in Missouri and North Carolina, Dorans deployed to Iraq with the Army's 101st Chemical Company and participated in some of the military's initial forays into the country in March 2003.

Her primary mission was protecting encroaching Marines from chemical or biological attacks and decontaminating battlefields in the event of such an attack. Her care for the troops and her logistical skills resulted in her first Bronze Star.

"I remember putting on my gas mask and jumping in holes," during attacks, Dorans said. She said it was fascinating being in some of the places mentioned in the Bible, which she reads avidly.

During her second Iraq tour, Dorans served in the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, in Kalsu. During the 14-month deployment, she coordinated assets for soldiers and Marines on the ground. She was awarded a second Bronze Star for her actions.

She is preparing for the next stage of her career.

After supervising and training troops at Fort Richardson, Dorans wants to study for a master's degree and become an instructor in the Department of Systems Engineering at West Point.

"I'm not real big, and I don't raise my voice often," Dorans said. "But for the most part, if you lead by example, cross your t's and dot your i's, people respect and respond to that."

Dennis Yusko can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.

Ellie