Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review, April 5, 2019

Women vets hailed during Women’s History Month
by Alisha Semchuk
staff writer
Some listened as bombs exploded not too far from camp sites overseas, while others carried out their duties at military bases situated on home turf, but the group of women veterans living in the Antelope Valley shared one com- mon bond: a dedication to serving their country in war and peace.
Their ages varied from young adults to those approaching menopause. The military branches where they enlist- ed were just as widespread — some Army, others Air Force. They enjoyed a camaraderie, a comfort zone, during a luncheon in their honor March 25 at the Antelope Valley College boardroom, where they spoke with great pride about their military experiences and how their personal worlds expanded through ser- vice to others.
Ashley Johnson, the new program coordinator for the Veterans Resource Center at AV College, greeted the crowd of 49 attendees, a mix of veterans and their supporters. Johnson said she, too, is a veteran who served in the Army.
“It is my passion, my true calling,” Johnson said. She asked the female veterans in the room to stand. “These are your battle buddies, ladies, just the women veterans on campus.”
Johnson also emphasized that the campus Resource Center was a place meant to help all veterans, both women and men, folks whom she described as “a population that is underserved.”
Aside from paying tribute to the vets, Johnson said the point of the lun- cheon was to “let people network and build a community among female vet- erans and those who support us.”
“Women veterans are trail blazers,” said Krishna Flores, a veteran and the outreach specialist at the Antelope Val- ley Vet Center in Palmdale, a facility
MENTOR, from 1
Force, I met amazing women who also became my role models. I am encouraged that today there are mentoring groups and forums like Academy Women and the Officer Women Leadership Symposium that are helping women share their military experiences and achieve their goals.”
A lesson she learned and wishes to impart to a new generation would be to set goals and also to ask for help.
“I would like every boy and girl to know that their future has no limits. If they work hard, they can achieve their dreams, any dream that they set their minds to. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer and continue to seek out people as role models who can help you get to a ‘yes,’” Suplisson said. “If you want to join the military, set a goal and work hard towards it. Ask for help and seek out mentors who have already achieved what you want to do. When you reach your goal, continue to set goals that will challenge you.”
Early in her career, Suplisson had set a goal to enter the Air Force Academy, then to become an engineer, be commissioned as a lieutenant, graduate Test Pilot School and eventually be- come a squadron commander. However, before she could take off on her journey, she faced tur- bulence early on when she failed the Air Force Academy candidate fitness test, specifically the pull-up.
“I was not going to let a pull-up stop me from achieving my dream. So I worked hard with a train- er for a couple months, retook it and was able to
April 5, 2019
Flores provided more statistics, say- ing that these days more than 700,000 women have served in the military after the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.
AV College President Ed Knudson stopped by to thank the veterans for their service and mention that he, too, is a veteran who served in the 1st Infan- try Division and then the 4th Infantry Division. He encouraged the veterans to utilize the campus Resource Center.
De’Nean Coleman-Carew, PhD., is a counselor who works with veterans at AV College. Like the speakers be- fore her, she also has veteran status. She spent 3 1⁄2 years on active duty as a member of the Air Force, stationed at March Air Force Base, Calif. She en- tered in 1983 working in administra- tion, then signed on for four years in the Reserves as a mental health techni- cian. While in the Reserves, she was called back into active duty for Desert Storm, again stationed at March.
Veteran Louie Borrayo is part of the Outreach Team at Mental Health America of Los Angeles in the Palm- dale office. He said his work focuses on helping the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless. He said he en- gages with the Valley’s homeless pop- ulation daily. The goal is to get those people, many of whom are veterans, into a dwelling they can call home. The agency provides the first month’s rent and in certain instances, as much as three month’s rent. The agency also assists with the start-up costs for utili- ties — gas and electric — plus other basics like dishes, etc.
“The VA has given me the ability to be compensated for the stuff I’ve done,” Borrayo said.
Tamiqua Jones, an army veteran, served from 2010 to 2013 as a military police officer, stationed at Fort Leon- ard Wood, Mo. She likened the posi- tion to sheriff’s deputies dealing with
incidents among a civilian population. “We responded to calls, protected and served the military personnel on base.”
Jones said the military experience “gave me a level of discipline. It taught me about the importance of integrity and self-less service — doing some- thing for others without any expecta- tions. Doing something just because you love to do it.”
Army veteran Michele Schottelkorb signed up for eight years, but was on active duty from 1992 through 1998, and went inactive her last two years. She worked as a network systems switching operator at Fort Gordon in Georgia. “It taught me about broth- erhood and sisterhood, our bond. It doesn’t matter where you served or how long you served. We are family, especially in the Antelope Valley.”
Schottelkorb said that frame of mind began in the military, “but transitioned into the rest of our lives.”
Army veteran Caitlin Murphy now lives in the Antelope Valley with her husband Derick Goebel, also a veteran and an Antelope V alley native. Mur- phy hails from Dallas, Texas, where she travels to visit her family. Murphy served in the military from 2011 to 2014. That’s where she met her husband at Fort Bragg, N.C. She worked as a hu- man intelligence collector.
“I’m the first female in my family to join (the military). I was trained to get information from sources. I can talk to anybody. I used tactics to get informa- tion that I wanted. I just asked the ques- tions. You have to be in-tune with your- self enough to be in-tune with people.”
In 2012 she was deployed to Afghan- istan for 7 1⁄2 months, where she heard the sounds of warfare.
When Murphy reflects on her military experience, she said, “It made me grow up. It gave me a sense of work ethic.”
Photograph by Alisha Semchuk
Michele Schottelkorb (left) and Tamiqua Jones attended the March 25 Women’s History Luncheon honoring female veterans at Antelope Valley College. Schottelkorb entered the military in 1992 and was stated at Fort Gordon, Ga., while Jones joined in 2010 and was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
operating under the direction of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Women veterans make history,” Flores said. “The important contribu- tions of women in our nation’s defense and as part of the veteran population cannot be overstated.”
Flores said women served in Amer- ica’s wars and conflicts throughout the nation’s history beginning with the Revolutionary War, although they were not formally under military command until the early 20th century. During the Civil War more than 400 women fought in the Union and Confederate armies, according to Flores.
During World War I, roughly 35,000 women served as nurses and support staff. During World War II, some 140,000 women served in the U.S. Army and the Women’s Army Corps
handling positions like military intel- ligence, cryptography and parachute rigging. More than 1,000 women flew aircraft for the Women’s Airforce Ser- vice Pilots.
In 1948, Congress passed the Wom- en’s Armed Services Integration Act, granting women permanent status in the military and entitling them to vet- erans’ benefits.
During the Vietnam War, 7,000 mili- tary women served in Southeast Asia. In 1976, the first women were admitted to America’s service academies — the Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and the Air Force Academy in Colo- rado Springs, Colo. During Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1991, more than 41,000 women were de- ployed to the combat zone.
do the pull-up,” she said. “Improving our pull-ups became a challenge for my freshman roommates and me, and all of us practiced at the pull-up bar in our squadron before taps a couple times a week.”
She also would encourage young people to explore the field of Science, Technology, Engi- neering and Mathematics (STEM) and to also consider the Air Force as career choice.
“We need your talent and innovation! I prom- ise, it will be the most rewarding experience of your life. We need you to take the reins and lead our Air Force to keep our nation secure into the future,” she said. “The Air Force and our sister services are phenomenal opportunities for young men and women to learn discipline, service, leadership, and a new career field. The cama- raderie in the military is the best you can find anywhere. You will be part of a family.”
Suplisson is thankful for her Air Force fam- ily, and especially for her own family. Family has been one of her priorities, along with faith and friends. Her priorities have kept her resilient throughout her career during many challenges.
“I would like to say thank you to all the people that believed in me and supported me — my fam- ily, friends, supervisors and teammates through- out the years. I could not have accomplished any- thing I have in the Air Force without the tremen- dous support of my parents, brother and sister, and my husband and sons. Thank you especially to my awesome husband and amazing sons who have given me their constant support and have
sacrificed so much. I couldn’t get through any of life’s daily challenges without my faith, my family, and my friends. I would ask all men and women alike to encourage one another in the Air Force — build each other up. Sometimes all you need is one person to believe in you and that changes the course of your life.”
Later this year, Suplisson is set to retire and bid farewell to her Air Force family after almost 30 years of service. She said her final assignment as the AFCT vice commander at Edwards was fitting, considering it had been a launching pad for her career into the testing world.
“This assignment as the vice commander of the Air Force Test Center has been exceptional.
It is an extreme honor to work with the men and women of the Air Force Test Center with their relentless focus on the warfighter every day,” she said. “I can’t think of anything better than to able to end my career at one of my favorite bases, with amazing people, and where my test career started at the Test Pilot School 24 years ago.”
“As I prepare to retire in a few months, the most important thing to me is inspire and mo- tivate the next generation of Airmen who will be leading our Air Force,” Suplisson said. “I am confident that the next generation is better pre- pared than we were to lead our Air Force and nation, and that is a legacy I am proud of.”
Photograph courtesy of Juan Blanco
Col. Angela Suplisson, Air Force Test Center vice commander (left), speaks to military veterans at a monthly meeting of Coffee4Vets, a non-profit veterans support organization. The weekly meetings are held Tuesday mornings, at Crazy Otto’s restaurant in Lancaster, Calif.
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