Women Who Serve feature
THERE WERE SOME MEMORABLE MOMENTS DURING
HER TIME OF SERVICE AS WELL, such as the night when
Hussein’s two sons were killed. “The night was filled with
the sound of the Iraqi people’s gunshots as they celebrated
by shooting up into the air.” There was also the assignment
in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Kristen and her squadron were in charge of providing air surveillance for a house
belonging to Dick Cheney. The most meaningful moment
of all, however, was when Kristen met her now-husband,
Mike. She originally met Mike while in Mississippi, where they
dated casually during training. Things never became
serious, as they were certain they would be sent to different areas of the world. Eventually, the couple was stationed
at two different bases within the same town. They stayed
together throughout Kristen’s deployment to Kuwait and Iraq
and throughout Mike’s deployment to Uzbekistan. The day
Kristen arrived home, Mike proposed to her, and they were
married four months later.
After four years in the same career field, Kristen served
her last two years in Human Resources. In July 2004, she was
moved to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. In
2007, Kristen exited as a Staff Sergeant (E-5). “There are two
things I enjoyed the most about serving: making friends with
people from all over the country and getting to travel. From
the time you start basic training through your entire military
career, you’re constantly meeting new people from all over
the country. Everybody’s background, experiences, and
perspectives are so different and unique. It’s interesting to
learn about the various traditions and upbringing people
have had. I also enjoyed traveling and seeing different parts
of the country and the world. Even though some of the places I got to see while in the military weren’t the ideal places
I’d want to go, it was still extremely interesting to get to see
those parts of the world that I never would have seen had I
not joined the Air Force.”
Kristen believes one of the greatest misconceptions about
qualifying for the military is being physically strong. But, it’s
so much more than that. “I feel it’s more about being mentally strong. I’ve had many women tell me they couldn’t join
the military because they aren’t strong enough, or they didn’t
think they could make it through basic training. I tell them all
the same thing: if you can be strong mentally, the physical
strength will come eventually, and you’ll make it through.”
Kristen learned this firsthand, as she saw her own strength
and independence increase while serving. “I’ve made it
through things in my life that I never thought I would have to
experience, and I’ve come out stronger because of it.”
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JULY 2016
BECAUSE OF THE MONTGOMERY GI BILL, KRISTEN WAS ABLE TO finish her bachelor’s degree and two
associate’s degrees without the nee