By the time the NATO Summit was held in Chicago in late May, Brandi Srda was more than ready for any wackiness that might have happened.
"Just our preparation [for NATO] was crazy," said Srda, who is a security manager at the Willis Tower. "[We had] three months of training, including building lockdown procedures, gas exposure [preparation], evacuations, preparing with carpenters, engineers, electricians, and so much more."
Ultimately, NATO was "very mild, thank goodness," she said. "We only had one incident—on Saturday night, May 19, when the protestors even got close to us. The Chicago Police Department was amazing."
Srda, 32, a lesbian who lives in Chicago's Buena Park neighborhood, has been on the job at the former Sears Tower for five years. She is originally from Flint, Mich., and attended Saginaw Valley State University, where she thought her real-world career would be as a police officer.
"When I got out of school [after graduating in 2003], I was thinking more about [becoming a] police officer, but fell into this position and now love it. It's a challenge every day; it's always something different—and I don't have to get shot at," said Srda, who was a four-year softball shortstop in college, where she earned a criminal justice degree.
Football, though, is now her sport of choice. She is in her third season as a wide receiver for the Chicago Force. Her partner, Jeannine Nebbeling, 28, a realtor, also plays for the Force. They have been together 11 years, have two dogs and had a civil union celebration in 2009.
Ironically, the two were opponents in 2007, when Srda played for the Detroit Demolition, yet Nebbeling was on the Force.
They met through mutual friends.
"My job is a lot of fun," said Srda, who started at the Willis Tower as a security officer, and then transferred into its command center, "which is massive."
After all, there are 104 elevators, 156 cameras and 110 floors.
She is now a scheduling and training manager, coordinating the work of 64 officers and seven supervisors. She does their schedules and payroll, and is responsible for their training in select areas.
Srda also is the Red Cross instructor for the building.
"I do a lot; I stay busy," said Srda, who admits her job definitely is filled with stress. "Knowing that you're constantly being watched by people with not good intentions is high stress. I know we're being watched daily."
In fact, the day before Srda talked to this reporter, she had a bomb threat at work. "It happens more than you would think," she said.
Same for medical emergencies—three per week on average, "and there have been a few that have gotten my heart rate up," she said.
Srda once had to do CPR on the job.
"You have to make sure that you don't take it home," she said. "Still, I often go home thinking about the job, trying to figure things out so when I come in the next day I can be prepared for whatever's going on that week. But I always make a conscious effort to not take things home."
Srda and her Force teammates battle for the Women's Football Alliance (WFA) championship Saturday, Aug. 4, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.
"I think we have a very well rounded, very deep, very skilled, very athletic team," Srda said. "This year's team reminds me a lot of the 2008 team," that ultimately lost in overtime in the championship game
"Our running game is nearly unstoppable. Our defense is awesome."
