Military – Page 5 – Donna McAleer

Honored Role Series (Part 8): Col. Terry Walters, MD – Navigating Uncharted Waters

Published on January 8, 2010

This is the eight installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

Before turning 10, Terry Tepper took the helm of the family’s 40-foot wooden yacht and steered into Barbados harbor, “My father handed me the tiller and said, ‘take her in’. He folded his arms, sat down on the bow and smiled. I backed the sails and steered her in. It was the greatest gift a child could receive — responsibility, confidence, and the first taste of empowerment.”

Four decades later, successfully at the helm of the U.S. Army’s largest medical facility, Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Colonel Terry Tepper Walters, M.D., reflects upon several horizons she navigated.

Honored Role Series (Part 7): 1st. Lt. Aubrey McCary – Shades of Gray

Published on December 18, 2009

This is the seventh installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

Her packing list includes body armor, a Kevlar helmet, a M-16 rifle, 3 pairs of desert tan boots, and 4 sets of camouflage uniforms; wrapping up the list are a set of pink, plaid flannel pajamas, a “Pride & Prejudice” DVD, Hello Kitty office supplies, and a stock of Aveda Salon hair and beauty products. 1st Liet. Aubrey McCary is not packing for a holiday vacation; this list is what she needs and wants as she deploys to Iraq Sunday, December 20, 2009.

“Full Participation for our sisters-in-arms”

Published on December 14, 2009

The Washington Post
Saturday, December 12, 2009
By Donna McAleer and Erin Solaro

By this time next year, U.S. troops will have been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviets were. The United States has been engaged in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq longer than in any previous war. Not factoring in the increase in soldiers going to Afghanistan that President Obama announced last week, some 220,000 American women have engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Honored Role Series (Part 6): Maj. Mindy Kimball – Shooting for Stars

Published on December 11, 2009

This is the sixth installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

Pondering science, space, and astronomy inspires US Army Major Mindy Kimball, because she has long dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Many astronauts begin their space quests in the military, which is where Mindy hopes her quest is beginning as well.

Mindy grew up in a military family, attending Vanden High School at Travis Air Force Base in California. As the daughter of a retired Air Force officer and granddaughter of a retired Army Air Corps officer, Mindy understood and embraced the military and its associated discipline. Serving in the Armed Forces were initial steps in her trajectory into space travel and exploration.

Honored Role Series (Part 5): Hae-Sue Park – Getting Out of the Comfort Zone

Published on December 4, 2009

This is the fifth installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

When Liet. Col. Hae-Sue Park retired from the Army two years ago, the most common questions she received from friends, “I can’t believe you retired. Do you have any regrets? What are you going to do?”

Although she loved the challenges of her 20-year Army career, she wanted to pursue a new adventure and a new life. Park said,

“I’m a believer in creating my own destiny and re-inventing oneself.” Executing on of the most valuable lessons she learned as an Army signal officer, Park continued, “Know the cut off for good ideas, and identify your end state. I felt a “twang” leaving our Army in the middle of a war but as the Chief of Staff of the Army reminded us often, this is the NEW normal, so get on with it.” Given this new normal, Park said there really is no optimal time to retire.

Honored Role Series (Part 4): Jen Boggs – US Soldier turned UN Peacekeeper

Published on November 20, 2009

This is the fourth installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

“It is amazing how more alike we are than we are different,” said Jen Boggs, Coordination Officer in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping at the United Nations. “The vast majority of people from all backgrounds want the same things: to live in a safe society that provides a system of justice, to know that their children will have a better left than they did, and to have a voice in the world.” Jen should know. She has worked extensively in places such as Korea, Bosnia, Hungary, Italy, Sudan, Iraq, Haiti, Cote d ‘Ivoire, and Liberia as a military officer and as a UN peacekeeper.

Honored Role Series (Part 3): Maj. Stephanie Ahern – Soldier, Scholar, and Mother

Published on November 13, 2009

This is the third installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

Before kindergarten Stephanie Ahern drafted her life plan; graduate high school, attend a good college, earn a masters degree and then a doctorate, like her father a metallurgical engineer, work for a year or two and than get married. That is as far as she got. Today Ahern, 36, a major is the US Army, accomplished precisely what she set out to do.

Honored Role Series (Part 2): Becky Kanis – Armed Service and Social Service

Published on October 29, 2009

This is the second installment in the weekly Honored Role Series.

As a junior high student in Franklin, Tennessee, Becky Kanis remembers the excitement and awe of fellow parishioners when they learned a young woman from St. Philip’s Catholic Church received an appointment to a service academy. Carol Anderson, a high school senior and St. Philip’s parishioner was entering West Point that summer.

Becky Kanis was in 8th grade when she first met Carol and learned of West Point, the military college in New York. As the eldest of seven children, Becky’s parents insisted on two things: she had to attend college, and she had to find a way to pay for it. West Point offered full scholarships in return for five years of active duty military service.

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