ST. GEORGE — Two military veterans and sisters-in-law have completed the Rebelle Rally, an all-women’s off-road navigational competition in Arizona. It has set the stage for them to take on big goals for the new year.
Selena Converse of Hurricane and Erin Mason recently tackled the nine-day, 2000-km navigational rally, placing in the top 10 finishers. Sammy, a two-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd, joined them as the first service dog ever to compete in the rally.
Converse, Mason and Sammy represented Record the Journey (RTJ), a military veterans charity. The charity is dedicated to helping service members successfully transition to civilian life and advocating for PTSD awareness.
The rally only allows a mapping compass and no GPS can be involved. It is a prestigious competition in the off-road community. The entry fee is about $12,000.
Mitsubishi sponsored the team and they drove a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to (race) because of the cost. And I’m incredibly thankful because of all the amazing women I’ve met there,” Converse said. “It really is a bucket list opportunity. And it’s helping me accomplish a lot of things for 2022.”
The rally opportunity was a jumpstart for many things they have been trying to achieve for a while. Converse and her husband have been interested in off-road racing for quite a while. Although the rally isn’t categorized as an off-road race, it is a competition.
“Being able to do this has enabled us to do other things because my name got put out there a little bit,” Converse said.
Following the evacuation of forces from Afghanistan, mental health and wellness for veterans and their families are significant to the team.
“What I didn’t expect was to be physically drained, like I was on a military deployment and only getting four hours of sleep at night. It was really wild,” Converse said. “So that for me ties right into what the mental thing was for me. I went there with my service dog. I’m a disabled and PTSD veteran.”
Converse has severe PTSD that is usually handled at home. But the PTSD was difficult for her to manage at the event. She thought it would be more of a vacation, but it wasn’t.
“It was work. So it was very physical, very draining, and ended up being a lot like a military deployment. So that was very challenging for me,” Converse said. “We’re all wearing the same uniform. We’re eating in some sort of chow hall, dining hall, military facility thing. We have these big tents. We’re staying in the desert. Very similar to things that I experienced in Afghanistan.”
Helping her cope throughout the event was Sammy, her female German Shepherd service dog. Sammy is all black, a rarity for the breed. Sammy was initially supposed to be Converse’s husband’s dog after he had recently lost his 13-year-old dog. The couple got Sammy thinking that she would be the replacement for him.
“When Sammy came into our home, it was very clear that she wasn’t the replacement. The difference between German Shepherds and the dogs that we previously had was that bully breeds like pitbulls, Dogo and Argentinos tend to be lovable and cuddly. And a German Shepherd is a working breed.”
Even as a puppy, Sammy wasn’t interested if they tried to get her to sit on the couch and snuggle. All she wanted to do was a job, eat and sleep. By ten weeks old, they started training her.
Around that same time, Converse was diagnosed with PTSD, so they decided to train their puppy as a service dog.
“She definitely knows when I’m in pain. She has been trained to recognize when my blood pressure spikes, and I get bad stomach cramps just because I have bowel issues,” she said. “She comes over and licks my face or hands. And if that’s not working, then she’s immediately going to get someone else and bugging them to let them know that I’m in pain.”
Converse almost passed out recently at a local restaurant when she was in the bathroom. Her dog went to the table to get her husband. Sammy is trained to watch her owner’s back.
“She’s trained in protection and guarding. So if we’re at the grocery store, you won’t find her willy-nilly looking around the store. You’ll see her standing behind me, looking at the exit or looking at the people in line behind me, basically providing a barrier. She does not like to be petted when she’s working in her vest.”
Originally, Converse and Mason were going to switch off as driver and navigator in the rally. So they trained equally. They had to learn the navigation portion, which was the bulk of the training. But it was clear within the very first night that Converse probably wasn’t going to do much navigation due to PTSD symptoms and flashbacks.
Converse said her sister-in-law was the perfect person to support her through that.
“I didn’t have to explain anything. Erin literally could look at my face and look at my eyes and understand what I was going through,” Converse said. “It was a cool, bonding, growing moment for us, and it definitely grew our sisterhood. And I’m super thankful that she and my service dog were there.”
Without them, Converse said she wouldn’t have done the rally.
“It was rough, mentally draining. That was the worst part because the physical part is there are only a couple more days of this. But the mental part, it hit me hard, and it hit me fast,” she said.
Many women go through other things in the rally that haven’t been in the military. They experience new stresses because they’re out on their own, sometimes for the first time. Race organizers call it “re-entry.”
“What happens is you’re without communication for ten days, and a lot of women that have been dependent on a husband or a spouse or a family member,” Converse said. “They get out there, and they realize, ‘Oh, hey, I can do this, I am sufficient and I am independent. They grow in themselves while they’re out there. Then they get back home and are expected to be back into these secondary roles. And they’re like, no, hey; I’m an independent woman, now I’m ready to move on and be my own person.“
For Converse and Mason, it was a very different experience than for the women who had not served in the military.
“I would venture to say that most of the veterans felt the same way. Like, ‘I don’t feel accomplished or conquered’, or ‘that was easy peasy.’ It was hard for me mentally, PTSD-wise,” Converse said. “The common thing that you’ll hear is everybody rebels differently.”
Converse praised Mason for going on the experience while having a 1 1/2-year-old and a four-week-old baby. Mason’s husband and family took care of the children. She was pumping breast milk during the rally to take home to her children.
“We were teased that our refrigerator had nothing to do with food, and it was all for babies and dogs. Erin is really incredible,” Converse said.
Her husband is Converse’s brother, who was also in the military. They live in East Texas with her parents on a 23-acre farm.
“Tackling huge goals and being intimidated by them has a lot to do with how ready you are for it,” Converse said. “If you’re not ready to jump into something, you’re going to be way more intimidated. So being prepared during the training and getting an education, whatever it is that you need before you’re trying to jump in, is going to help.”
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