From Pat’s Pen:

By Pat Murphy

Things are going well with our organization– at least from our perspective in San Antonio. The Board meets monthly for breakfast updates and quarterly for our Board meetings. We also get to see our South Texas members at a quarterly luncheon held in or near San Antonio.

At the last South Texas luncheon, Terri Slone-Baker suggested that members support the endowment of the Maj. Gen. Norma E. Brown Chair at WIMSA. The South Texas Chapter has generously donated $1,000, and the AFWOA Board was also very supportive and donated $2,500 in General Brown’s name. We hope these contributions and others will soon endow the chair, which will support WIMSA’s work.

We also sent a letter of congratulations on AFWOA’s behalf to Colonel (Brigadier General select) Dana Born, who has been nominated as dean of faculty at the Air Force Academy. Colonel Born is a 1983 graduate of the academy and will be the first woman to oversee instruction there.

Also, LtCol Martha McSally has been selected as the Commander, 354^th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. We were very supportive of Colonel McSally when she was objecting to the dress code requiring military women to wear the abaya while assigned to Saudi Arabia. We wish her well in her new assignment as the first woman commander of a combat aviation unit.

Again, we look for your views and thoughts on matters of interest to you and our organization. We want to respond to your interests. Thanks for your support with your dues and a special thanks to all who have sent additional donations. We will ensure we put your money to good use.

Thanks to all.

Pat

And speaking of General Brown: In February 2005, a new headquarters building at Goodfellow AFB, Texas (San Angelo) will be named in honor of General Brown. The Order of the Sword that was awarded to her will be displayed there.

Thanks to long-time Board member: A special thanks to Anne Farrer, Springfield, Va., who served as a member of the national AFWOA Board since 1996. She has also been a back-up representative for AFWOA on The Military Coalition. Anne recently resigned from the Board to tend to some back problems. We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to her resuming a position with AFWOA.

USAFA Col. Geraldine May Outstanding Swimmer (Woman) Award: Cadet First Class Carly Baxter, of Taylor, S.C., received the AFWOA-sponsored award for 2004. Karen Rankin presented the award on behalf of AFWOA. (See photo on page 4.)

September 2004 Newsletter, page 2

AFROTC Awards for 2004: The recipients of the 2004 Major General Jeanne M. Holm Awards for Leadership Excellence are:

• AFROTC NE Region: Cadet Kevin P. Auger, Syracuse University, Det. 535.
• AFROTC SE Region: Cadet Susan Underwood, University of Southern Mississippi, Det. 432.
• AFROTC SW Region: Cadet Rachel Sherburne, Louisiana State University, Det. 310.
• AFROTC NW Region: Cadet John S. Mohr, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Det. 465.

Hot off the press! An Officer and a Lady is available from the Women’s Memorial store. This is a collection of the World War II letters of Lt. Col. Betty Bandel, South Burlington, Vt., and is edited by Sylvia J. Bugbee, assistant archivist, Special Collections, University of Vermont. Lorry Fenner, Washington, D.C., wrote the introduction. What a treasure trove of information about the early days of women in the military. In addition to her ground-breaking days with the Women’s Army Corps and the WAC Division of the Army Air Force, Betty was a professor of English at the University of Vermont from 1947 until her retirement in 1975.

Beware of new car-jacking scheme: Every-one is vigilant when shopping in malls. But what happens when you get to your car, get in and are all ready to pull out when you see a piece of paper stuck to your rear window? The instinct is to shift into park, get out and remove the paper. But that is when would-be car-jackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off, usually with your purse still in the car. Now the car-jackers have your wallet, ID, credit cards, and your house keys. The best thing to do is drive away and remove the piece of paper later.

www.afwoa.org – That’s our web site, superbly maintained by our webmaster, Linda Allen, Corpus Christi, Texas. All on-line membership information is up-dated by Bev LaFond, San Antonio, Texas. She has done a terrific job working with Linda to make sure all our on-line, secure directory information is as current as can be.

New Members: Welcome to new members Christina Rollins, 635 West Baker St., Apt U105, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626; Awilda Ciuro, 9042 Deer Park St., San Antonio, Texas 78251.

• Betty Albright, Black Mountain, NC
• Elizabeth Aptekar, APO AP 96206
• Jeannine Beer, APO AE 09012
• Laura Branzell, Cave Creek, Ariz.
• Maria Carl, APO AE 09603
• Michelle Faelber, San Antonio, Texas
• Vanessa Hagan, San Antonio, Texas
• Arlene Haight, Redondo Beach, Calif.
• Elizabeth Harrell, APO AE 09128
• Cora Hunter, Redlands CA
• Gloria Johnson, Converse, Texas
• Rita MacLean, Lake Worth, Fla.
• Diane Phillips, APO AE 09142
• Erika Rabe, Sumter, S.C.
• Beth Schissel, Durham, NC
• Cathy Scott, APO AP 96264
• Betty Sutcliffe, Holyoke, Mass.
• Sandra Wilson, APO AE 09871

• Margaret E. Cook
• Harriet G. Knarr
• Lerline Poole

News from Our Members

Renee Rubin, Sonoma, Calif., recently returned from two weeks in Ireland with Elderhostel and a week in England with retired RAF friends.

Glenda Raichlen has moved to Bedford, Mass., and is the Comander of the 360^th Recruiting Group.

Kay Spannuth reports a promotion to lieutenant colonel and a move. Her tour as communications squadron commander is over and she is in school until November 2004.

Mary Mayer has been on the move, to Portland, Ore., where she’s remodeling her parents’ old home – and enjoying it a lot. She’s also doing consulting work with KBR. In between, she returned from three weeks in Italy where she reports she had a wonderful time.

Cynthia Packard, Colorado Springs, Colo., has a new job working for a property title company. She runs the title commitment plant for two offices, soon to be three. She’s still getting settled in her new town home, her first move in 21 years!