Virginia Seigel enjoyed the military life and found it challenging

Last week, Havre City Judge Virginia Seigel slipped out of her judicial robes and put on her flyer's uniform.

"It still fits," she said.

"I miss this uniform," she added. "It feels like pajamas."

It harkens back to her days in the service as a pilot serving, at various times, in the United States, Korea, Germany and Iraq.

It was a time when she developed skills in her line of work.

She is passionate when talking about her days as a pilot.

She is also passionate about her post-military job as Havre city judge.

Many of the skills she developed in the military, she said, she uses when she's on the bench.

The sense of responsibility, the sense of teamwork, the respect for hierarchy she used as an enlisted person and later as an officer are invaluable in her work today, she said.

For instance, she remembers saluting and respecting officers because she respected the rank even though she may not have respected the person.

It's the same with the judge.

"People rise when I enter the courtroom," she said. "They respect the position, but I have to earn their respect."

As a helicopter pilot, she frequently was called on to make spur-of-the- moment decisions.

In that sense, it's sometimes easier to be a judge, she said, because she can often think about a decision overnight.

Another part of her military days remains with her on the bench.

She has had her bench in the courtroom redesigned so she can stand while hearing cases.

She suffered back injuries in the service, and though she can sit, she said, and finds it easier to stand.

"It's not unusual for pilots," she said.

"I was flying with full body armor," she said

She said 25 percent of the flyers today are women, but she almost always served with men only.

She said she always felt like a member of the team with lots of respect from her male colleagues.

Once in awhile, the talk would turn to topics she thought were inappropriate, but male pilots would always change the topic when she suggested they do so.

She said she decided to join the Army after high school, and that was not unusual for Montana residents.

"Montana has more volunteers into the services than any state," she said. "Montanans are very patriotic."

One reason that more Montanans serve in the military is that "Montana is worth fighting for," she said.

When her enlisted hitch was up, she decided she enjoyed the military life and found it challenging.

She went to Colorado State University in the ROTC program, then she became a Chinook helicopter pilot. After being trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She flew helicopters for eight years.

College was less stressful for her because of her Army experience, she said.

"College seemed so easy," she said. "All I had to do was study for the tests."