What was your proudest "military moment?"

I was E5 and the senior elevator technician by training and rank. I had my Navy Lt. directly order me to bypass a safety to expedite the ammo onload. I refused the order and then went to find the regulation in the Navy Technical Manual. The only person who can order me to bypass a safety is the CO in writing.

I've had a lot I would have to say completing pldc in 1985 30 day's of hard training at FT.LEWIS and our trainer's were all at one time rangers.

I have two moments that made me feel especially proud during my military service. The first one was when I was a supply clerk in a cavalry OSUT unit. We went out to qualify with the M16. A number of drill sergeants in the unit had been dogging me out. I out shot all of them at the range, getting my expert rifle badge. My troop commander came up to me in front of them, put his arm on my shoulder with a big smile, and proudly exclaimed, "Supply." One of the drill sergeants later coached me through the process to shoot expert in pistol as well. I very much appreciate his having done this.

Another proud moment was when I was in Korea. I was the battalion staff duty officer when we were alerted that there was a sergeant who found out his wife wanted a divorce, and was planning to jump off the 3rd floor barracks roof. I went out on the edge of the roof with him and talked him down. It felt good to know that he and his children would have a continued relationship, and that it didn't end that day.

I have a couple my first was when i pinned my warfare device on my first deployment. It was not easy but well worth it. Then completing my deployment to Iraq i tried for 3 deployments prior to get to Iraq/Afghanistan and when i finally completed it it marked that i I got to take part in something bigger then myself.

Sir,

I have so many that cannot be compared with one another.

When I received my Eagle Globe and Anchor from Drill Instructor Sergeant Borders was my first defining moment. I hadn't done anything special and I had no idea what would be in store for me afterwards, but I wasn't expecting the emotional response that we all had.

The next defining moment was when I received my Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge from SFC Dave Grotkin. That was the culmination of a lot of training and learning. When he pinned me he said, "Now that you've passed the course, you get to learn how to be an EOD Tech." At the time I had no idea what he meant, but I learned quickly that even thought I'd just passed one of the most difficult schools the military has to offer, I still didn't know a damn thing about my new job.

Recently I was selected to attend Warrant Officer Candidate School. I expect that after completing WOCS (hopefully) I will have yet another defining moment in my career. I find it difficult to differentiate between my first two moments, as they meant so much to me but for very different reasons.

My 2 yr old (well, he was 1.5 at the time) removed my CPT rank for my MAJ pinning ceremony:

For me, it would have to be the time I won a gold medal in an international Military shooting competition on Dachstein Mountain in Obertraun Austria, May 2010. I was the only American and the only woman to get a gold medal in that competition. It was pretty funny being an Air Force woman outshooting a bunch of US Army men, who had won silver and bronze medals. The other gold medalists were German and Austrian military. There were eight countries competing. If you're asking about service specific, well, crazy as it may sound, it would probably be the time my boss (a SMSgt at the time) told me my greatest skill was as a supervisor (which is what he rated me highest on in my feedback). That was a surprise to me. Yes, that means more to me than any medals I received or any other accolades I've gotten.

I was advanced to Chief in September of 2001. Due to the events of 9/11 Chief's Initiation was pushed back a month due to all that was going on. My proudest moment came at the end of initiation. After going through the entire process of initiation rites, building a hat box and everything else I stood in the line of new chiefs. Got chills down my spine as the Chief's Creed was read and my wife pinned my anchors on. That was the day I BECAME a real Chief.

In the USCG, very few (if any) folks enlist with a guaranteed career school - you wait until you are advanced to E-3 and then put your name on a waiting list for any school you both want and for which you are qualified.

We had a non-rate (E-2 at the time) that wanted to be an aviator SO bad... but had barely flunked the color-vision test. Talking with him one day, I suggested that he request to re-take it. He perked up and asked, "They let you do that?!?!"

A couple of days later, he tested... and flunked by one card - a different one from before. He was crushed.

I made a quick call to a buddy in medical and found out that if he waited 30 days, he could retake it.

Flash forward 30 days, I sent him again. He flunked by one card...

He ended up taking that damned test FIVE times before he finally passed it. I never really thought about it - he wanted something and I knew how he could get it - and if he missed a half-day of work every month, nobody was going to die - so why NOT send him??

He put his name on the Aviation Structural Mechanic list and six months later he left for school. I never thought another thing about it.

Flash forward several years and I get a letter in the mail with a pic of him, his wife, and child - next to a Coast Guard helicopter... HIS helo. He thanked me for everything I had done, and said that I had changed his life.

Crap - I didn't do a damned thing but look out for one of my people. I will say that that letter was my proudest military award I ever received... and the envelope is background in my shadowbox.

After the Twin Towers fell, my Guard unit sent "Push packages" to help with the recovery and and 4 mos after 9/11 my unit itself, was charged with pulling security around and on the Holland and Linclon Tunels between NJ/NY. I was able to go to Ground Zero, as I stood on the roof of the Fire House overlooking the site I thought, here I am on, duty, on my own soil. This We'll Defend"