From the category archives:

Honored Role

Honored Role (part 22): Valencia de la Vega — Brains in a Bikini

September 3, 2010

This is the 22nd installment in the Honored Role Series. Fed up with the constant media attention and hyper-promotion of tissue-thin fashion models and beauty queens with little between the ears, Valencia de la Vega entered the Ms. Latina Beauty Pageant in October 2009. This former Army Captain and combat veteran turned Intel engineer decided [...]

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Honored Role (part 21): Col. (ret.) Debra Lewis — Actions Matter Most

August 27, 2010

This is the 21st installment in the Honored Role Series. Not one to rest idly, less than six months after retiring from the Army, Colonel Debra Lewis is taking action on another mission. This one, accompanied by Lt. Col. (ret.) Doug Adams, her spouse, is a 16,000-mile yearlong cycling tour of the United States to [...]

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Honored Role (part 20): Capt. Jana Fajardo – New Starts

July 23, 2010

This is the 20th installment in the Honored Role Series. Jana Fajardo grew up wanting to serve in the military, despite the fact that less than two percent of Americans do so. Both her maternal grandparents served in the Armed Forces. Her grandmother enlisted in the British Navy and her grandfather served 27 years in [...]

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Honored Role (part 19): Lt. Col. (ret.) Angela Lungu – A Leap into the Unknown

July 9, 2010

This is the 19th installment in the Honored Role Series. Like many, Angela Maria Lungu joined the Army to earn a college degree and did not anticipate serving past her initial five-year obligation or remotely consider the possibility of living and working overseas. The retired lieutenant colonel remarked, “I never thought I would stay in. [...]

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Honored Role (part 18): 2nd Lt. Taneshina Wright – Body & Mind

May 21, 2010

This is the 18th installment in the Honored Role Series. Saturday’s graduation at West Point will mark 30 years since the first women joined “the long gray line” of graduates of the storied Military Academy. During the commencement exercises, Taneshina Wright will take the oath of a commissioned officer and become a Second Lieutenant in [...]

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Honored Role (part 17): Maj. Candice O’Brien – One Step at Time

May 7, 2010

This is the 17th installment in the Honored Role Series. In Kindergarten Candice O’Brien started running the 1/8th of a mile loop around her elementary school in Muscatine, Iowa. Each time she finished ahead of all the other kids—girls and boys. Although she ran for fun, she did not want anyone to beat her. From [...]

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Honored Role (part 16): Col. (ret.) Crissy Gayagas – In Balance

April 26, 2010

This is the 16th installment in the Honored Role Series. More than a word of welcome or parting, “Aloha”, in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. Often described as the coordination of mind and heart, it also means the extension of warmth in caring with no obligation in return. This would [...]

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Honored Role (part 15): Paula Broadwell – Arc of a Driver

March 19, 2010

This is the 15th installment in the Honored Role Series. Paula Broadwell does her best thinking and reflecting during her daily 6:00AM run with her Iphone and Pandora blasting. She runs at warp speed literally and intellectually. To say she is driven to perform is a precise statement of how discipline and determination have shaped [...]

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Honored Role (part 14): Hannah Clifford – From the DMZ to VC, Frontline Leadership

March 5, 2010

This is the 14th installment in the Honored Role Series. Her military background is different from many colleagues, but Hannah Clifford says working with start-up companies is similar to that of being an Army officer. “At West Point and in Army, I was trained to act in the absence of guidance, communicate simply, lead by [...]

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Honored Role series (part 13): Capt. Raven Bukowski – Planting the Seeds of Service

February 26, 2010

This is the 13th installment in the Honored Role Series. Although Raven Bukowski’s late grandfather, Donald, never spoke about his experiences as a sergeant in the 3rd Infantry Division during World War II, his quiet patriotism and strength planted in her the seed to become a soldier. Raven knew only that her grandfather fought in [...]

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