As we face trying times in our communities and our country, these Women in Uniform continue to serve and protect. We are forever grateful for their service and strength.

Deborah Cochran

I realized in my early 30’s as a high school dropout and mother of three that I needed to make a change in my life so I began nursing school. One of my first nursing instructors was a Captain in the Army Reserves. Knowing that I was living on student loans and below the poverty level, she urged me to consider the military reserves until I graduated.  I did so and joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves. I had a small income and a ray of hope for our future.  After graduating from college, I went active duty. I have been serving in the U.S. Air Force for over 30 years and will retire next year as a lieutenant colonel. This Air Force career has been so good to me and the best decision I have ever made.  The Air Force paid for me to continue my education and my master’s degree in nursing as a women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. I have been doing that for 10 years now and could not be happier.  I take great pleasure knowing I take care of the women that take care of our country ‐ both dependents and active duty. Though I would love to say there was some altruistic self-sacrificial reason that guided me into service of my country – that was not the case.  I joined for a career, which could give me stability and a retirement when I was older.

In the Air Force one of our core values is “Service before self”. Military members typically don’t just work 40 hours a week and go home. There are frequent requirements for extended work hours such as unexpected duty days, six-month deployments, and frequent war-training exercises. These work schedules require a great network of family and/or friends to help work these hours. For myself this juggling act has not been an extraordinary challenge because of the spouse I married 21 years ago. He is a wonderful man! He found himself within the first year of our marriage, alone, in full charge of my six‐year‐old daughter, when I was deployed to the Middle East. He did a great job with her even though she swears all she ever ate while I was gone were chicken nugget TV dinners with corn and chocolate pudding. He has been my helpmate during my entire career, and I would have found it difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish everything I have without the support of such a man in my life.

One meaningful experience that continues to this day is when I am outside on a military base and it is 5 p.m.  I hear the bugle sounding retreat, knowing the Star Spangled Banner is about to be broadcast over the base’s outdoor loudspeakers.  Just imagine seeing an entire military base population stop and focus together collectively. Cars pull over on the streets. Children, men, and women stop to put their hand on their hearts, and military members in uniform snap a crisp salute at the first notes of our national anthem.  An intense patriotic feeling still sweeps over me. I know whether I am at home in the U.S. or across the world on another military base, I will hear and treasure this feeling. Everyone stops, put aside differences, and are just Americans for those short 92 seconds while paying respect to the country I serve and love so very much.

 

Sue Mendels

As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a police officer. I couldn’t join a police force until I was 21 years old, so I joined the U.S. Army as a Military Police officer. I grew up in an Air Force family. Both of my grandfathers served in the Navy and Army, and my brother also joined the Army so I guess serving was in my blood. I deployed twice: once to Somalia and once to Honduras. After leaving the Army, I applied with a police agency in Kansas but was turned down. I let that discourage me and I pursued a career as a certified HVAC technician. I stayed in that field for several years but knew that was not what I was meant to do. I moved to Shreveport in 1999 and after a couple of years, I decided that I needed to go back to what I loved. I applied to the Shreveport Police Department, was accepted, and joined the force in 2002. I am currently a Corporal in the Uniformed Services Division. I met my spouse in the Army and we have been married for 20 years. We have an amazing eleven-year-old daughter.

Being a public servant has its ups and downs. Too often you have to work holidays and special events instead of spending that time with your family. Sometimes I miss out on school plays and other events due to work. I often feel that I am being overly protective of my daughter due to the things I deal with at work. At times it is hard to find the middle ground between wanting to keep her safe and still letting her experience life to the fullest. I try to give her privacy, but it’s really hard to be a cop and not be nosey. When I’m off duty, I try to just be mom and do my best not to bring work home. Although she doesn’t talk about, I know she sees the things that are happening around our country, and she worries about me and my career. It can be tough for all of us.

I love being an officer! Every day is something new. I am always learning. It’s hard for me to think of one incident in my career as an officer that stands out the most for me. More often than not, if someone has an encounter with a police officer, it’s usually due to something unpleasant. Police usually only get called when something bad has happened, but to see the relief on someone’s face when I pull up on the scene, that makes the job worth it. I get to spend my time trying to bring comfort to victims by investigating the crimes against the and hopefully by getting them justice. I hope to bring them peace of mind. After a total of 18 years in law enforcement,  I still love to get up everyday and go to work. I can’t see myself doing anything else.

 

Mariah Carrico

My love for law enforcement began at an early age. My father was a police officer for approximately ten years of my childhood. Therefore, I grew up in a very strict environment where you were to always mind your manners, respect your elders, obey the law, and most of all “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I was raised with high morals to respect the law and the ones that uphold the law. Growing up and still to this day, I enjoy making a difference in people’s lives and feel that law enforcement is one of the most important ways to do so. As kids, my brother, sister, and I would play the game of cops and robbers. I never liked being the “bad” guy. I always wanted to be the “good guy”, the one that did the good deed by putting the bad guy away.  Now, I am not assigned to a position that allows me to “put the bad guy away”. I am assigned to the Corrections Division as a Deputy Warden, which is a position of ensuring the care, custody, and control of the “bad guys that were put away”. 

God and my family are my true inspiration behind me going in the direction of service. To know that I am assisting in making the world a safer place for my family and others keeps me going. 

 Having a family of five, my husband, two daughters, and my son, is a full-time job in itself and a highly demanding job at that. It is extremely challenging. It is not only challenging for me but also for my family. If I didn’t have such a wonderful family who helps with household responsibilities, I would not be as successful in my career as a law enforcement officer. My family comes first and my career second. However, there are times when I am sure my family may not think so. I usually put in more than fifty hours a week, some of which may be at midnight or on a weekend. I go to work early as often as possible so that I may be able to accomplish more in that day and still come home at a decent hour to spend time with my family. 

 As you may imagine, working in a prison provides many interesting experiences. The most meaningful experience for me would be witnessing an offender accepting Jesus Christ and actually changing his or her heart from bad to good. Each and every minute I spend in the prison, I attempt to make a difference in someone’s life. I am always reminding my employees that the offenders we are housing are people too and that we are not to judge them, but to provide care, custody, and control. Most of the offenders we house are generally good people and just got lost for a bit. I feel that helping to provide programs for the offenders may assist in bringing them back so they may return to society as a successful citizen. We have offenders that may never be able to return to society as a successful citizen and I realize that. I just want to serve to the best of my ability and help who I can. 

 

Lacey Durham

Growing up, I was tomboy and always on the hunt for adrenaline pumping adventures. When I wasn’t outside crawling on my belly through the woods with my Red Ryder BB gun pretending to be on SWAT, I was inside sending my Air Force Barbie on rescue missions to rescue the other Barbie’s from certain death. I’m not sure where the drive came from, but I never could imagine myself in any other career, even when I tried.

I graduated high school at 18 years old, and I was disappointed to find out that I had to be 21 before I could apply to work as a police officer. I then decided that the next best thing would be an E.M.T. I could get the skills needed to save lives when I became a police officer and first responder. My husband and I had our first son when I was 19. I was a stay- at- home mom by day and attended EMT classes at night.  I started working as an EMT and enjoyed it, but I was still anxiously waiting for my 21^st birthday so that I could apply with the police department.

My 21^st birthday rolled around and I went straight to the department to drop off my application. Almost a year later I had finally completed all of the hiring steps and was told that I passed everything and would be a great candidate for the next police academy. My dreams were crushed when my application was denied. I did not reapply because I knew that I had done my absolute best on the tests and interviews. I felt that I wasn’t good enough. I changed my major back to Paramedic and continued working as an EMT but felt like a complete failure. After applying for a position with the fire department, another candidate was chosen but the chief asked why I had not applied to be a police officer? He said, “From your application it appears you would make a great police officer!” I was stunned… Really? All these years later and NOW I look like a good candidate? I’m old and fat! I’ve also spent the last 6 years unmotivated and could not do push-ups like I once could. They told me, “If you can pass a physical agility test in 2 weeks and all your scores will transfer- you will start the Academy next month!”

The day of the test rolled around, and I PASSED. My score was not as high of as it was when I was 21, but I passed. I finally got that official letter offering that employment as a POLICE OFFICER.

After a year of patrolling and responding to more shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, wrecks, burglaries in progress, fights, domestic disputes and barking dog complaints than I could even count, I realize why the graveyard shifts are short staffed. But still, I loved it, and looked forward to hitting the ground running from roll call every night.

Fast-forward to my seventh year of graveyard patrolling I was divorced d remarried, with a total of six kids. I was informed that a detective position in the Tactical Robbery Unit had become available. I thought about applying, but that old inner struggle began; What if I try and fail? There had never been a female in the robbery unit. I was scared to get my hopes up, just to be let down, but I knew it would be a good move for my family. Finally, 30 minutes before the deadline, I turned in my resume. A week later I got a call from the Lieutenant of the Robbery Unit, “You made the highest scores; you have been selected as a Tactical Robbery Unit Detective.” I did it!

A couple of weeks ago my teenage sons were watching the live news broadcasts of the officers shot and killed in Dallas. They turned to me horrified and teary eyed and said, “Mom, do you HAVE to go back to work?? What if that happens here?? Please don’t go back!” I hesitated and thought what If I just didn’t go back? What other career would I like to do? I told them, “I am that responder and not only is it my sworn duty to protect, but I feel it is what I was put on this earth to do. I love being your mom and I would never ever want to leave this earth while you guys need me, but also I feel that I have to try and help stop or save anyone else’s mom or dad or brother or sister from leaving this earth and their family before their time. We just have to continue to pray that God keeps us safe.”

 

Heather Decker

I was born to a military family. Both my father and grandfathers were Air force. It wasn’t until college that I really decided I wanted to fly airplanes. My dad was a military and civilian pilot at the time. Seeing my father’s work and success gave me the motivation to follow in his footsteps. I started flying small civilian airplanes in between semesters at LSU. I earned several ratings before deciding to join The United States Air Force Reserves. I absolutely loved flying and made the decision to make a career out of it. Originally, I wanted to be an airline pilot. My dad advised that if I was serious about pursuing a career as a pilot I needed to join the military. The military would provide me the best training available. For those of you that know me…know that I AM NOT THE TYPICAL MILITARY KIND OF GIRL! Before I knew it I was raising my right hand and swearing to honor and defend our country in the mighty B-52. This made me a third generation bomber pilot. My dad flew B-52s & A-10s, & my paternal grandfather flew B57s and helicopters. I was the first female to fly B52s in the reserves; a major accomplishment at 21 years old.  Being the first female pilot in a community of men who thought women shouldn’t really be here was no easy feat! Prior to my pilot training, 9-11 hit our country. I had just started my Officer Training School, so my dreams of being an airline pilot by the time I was 25 didn’t happen! Yet, in January 2002 I began my training at Laughlin AFB. This is where I met my husband. We have been married twelve years. I graduated pilot training in Jan 2003 and finished B-52 school. I flew in a combat coded squadron 2009-2013 to become not only combat coded, but nuclear qualified…SCARY! I now work at the 93d BS teaching students how to fly the B-52. I don’t always love what I do, but it is very rewarding. I do feel very lucky to be part of a great organization. During my Military Career, I had 2 children; Landon 6 and Isabella 3

Juggling life between service & family can be very difficult at times. I am fortunate enough to have a job that predominantly allows me to come home every night to my kids (one reason I haven’t left it for the airlines). Being part of the school house keeps me from being in a deployable job, so instead I train pilots to become combat aviators! I live a very structured life.   I like a tight schedule; otherwise, I could not fit it all in!! My husband is also a civilian. He flies for FedEx and just recently started flying the B-52’s. This requires him to travel quite a bit, but one of us is always home for our kids!

I’ve had several interesting experiences throughout my military career. One of the most memorable moments is when we made history by flying an all female formation flight out of Barksdale and my flight ended in an emergency where we had to return home right after take-off. I was flying w/the BIG BOSS-the first female B2 bomb wing commander at Barksdale. Women have come a long way since I started my career.  Other memorable moment- experiencing my first live weapons drop, flying on the border of North & South Korea and being able to actually see all the SAMs that could shoot be down! A final and not so great memory was having the courage to stand up to my Commander when he was out of line. This was a very hard thing to do, but I knew that I had to stand up for what was right no matter the consequences.

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