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Face of Defense: Daughter Follows Father’s Path to National Guard

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On Nov. 2, Army Lt. Col. Paul Boice raised his right hand and cited the oath of enlistment. It was the first time he had ever sworn someone into the Idaho Army National Guard.

An Army officer swears in an enlistee
Army Lt. Col. Paul Boice, staff judge advocate for the Idaho National Guard, swears his daughter, Simonne, into the Idaho Army National Guard in Boise, Idaho, Nov. 2, 2017. Simonne enlisted as an intelligence analyst, the same military occupational specialty her dad held before earning his commission. Idaho Army National Guard photo by Capt. Robert Taylor
An Army officer swears in an enlistee
Swearing in
Army Lt. Col. Paul Boice, staff judge advocate for the Idaho National Guard, swears his daughter, Simonne, into the Idaho Army National Guard in Boise, Idaho, Nov. 2, 2017. Simonne enlisted as an intelligence analyst, the same military occupational specialty her dad held before earning his commission. Idaho Army National Guard photo by Capt. Robert Taylor
Photo By: Capt. Robert Taylor
VIRIN: 171102-Z-CW758-491

The enlistee was Boice’s 17-year-old daughter, Army Pvt. Simmone Boice.

“It was very powerful and a cool experience when I saw her go to the position of attention and raise her right hand,” said Boice, the staff judge advocate for the Idaho National Guard. “I’m very happy and proud of her. The emotions of it didn’t set in until I walked up to the podium.”

Simonne said she can’t pinpoint exactly what led her to join the Idaho Army National Guard, but, she said, participating in the Idaho National Guard’s Child and Youth Services program with her father played a large role in her decision to enlist.

Following Father’s Footsteps

“A big part was because of my dad,” Simmone said. “Obviously, he’s pretty cool and a big influence on me, but I’ve also been with the youth program my entire life. Being surrounded by the Army my entire life, I didn’t see me turning 18 and leaving the house without any military connection.”

Her mother, Marlayna Boice, said Simmone’s decision to join the Idaho Army National Guard wasn’t a surprise.

“It’s something I’ve seen coming for a long time,” Boice said. “She’s been so involved in youth programs; there wasn’t like this whole shocker of a moment when she told us this is what she’s going to do.”

Simmone has served as the state representative for Idaho’s child and youth program since August. Her connection to the Idaho Army National Guard now includes a six-year enlistment into the organization as an intelligence analyst.

Intelligence Analyst

Simmone’s father also served as an enlisted intelligence analyst -- starting in the Utah Army National Guard in 1997 and then transferring to the Idaho Army National Guard in 1998 to attend law school at the University of Idaho’s College of Law. He served in the occupational specialty until he was commissioned as a judge advocate in 2003.

She could follow a similar career path herself someday. She's a senior at Boise High School, but hasn’t decided where she wants to attend college yet. She said she hopes to study pre-law before proceeding to law school.

Simmone said she doesn’t consider herself an “Army brat,” because she never moved growing up. Though her dad deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2010 as a judge advocate for the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, she said she can only remember his second deployment.

Attending Youth Camp

It was that deployment when she attended her first youth camp, which is held by the military youth program twice a year. She grew up attending other youth program events but wasn’t able to attend camp until she was 10, which coincidentally was when her father deployed in 2010.

“I thought it would be my only time there,” she said. “I thought you had to have a deployed parent to go.”

Simmone has attended almost every youth camp since then and has been heavily involved with the program since. She’s still friends with Katie Kohlbecker, another military youth, who she randomly sat next to on the bus on her way to camp that first year.

The Child and Youth Services program is available to children 18 and younger who have a parent, sibling or legal guardian serving on active duty, in the National Guard or Reserves or have retired from a branch of service. The program offers resource referral, youth development, advocacy, student support and service learning to assist military children in development, resiliency and life skills.

Simonne is one of at least nine military children who have participated in the program and subsequently joined a branch of the military in the last four years.

She got involved with the program’s youth council leadership when she was 14 and was the program’s Boise representative before she was selected by her peers to serve as the state’s representative in August. In this role, she works with students from the four-state region of Idaho, Washington, Alaska and Oregon, known as Region 10.

Creating Strong Bonds

“What I love about the program is it creates a really strong bond between all the military children,” she said. “Without the program, I feel like I wouldn’t have had that strong of a tie to the military. My dad is in it, but that’s just kind of his job. When he deployed, the program did a lot of things to help families out.”

She said the best part of the program is working with new adult leaders to help them understand how they can best help kids in the program and helping those same kids herself.

Simonne said she’s excited to start her career and learn new things in the Idaho Army National Guard.

“I can honestly say I feel incredibly good about her joining this organization,” Simmone’s father said. “I believe in our leadership and have every confidence in the world that she’s going to be taken care of and have good strong leaders to learn from.”

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