The following is our first submission targeted for for US military veterans who are interested in hearing from other veterans and available services. This is the Mid-Hudson News inaugural installment of “Veterans Corner” submitted by Alyssa Carrion, Director of Veterans Programs for MHA Dutchess Vet2Vet. Carrion is a veteran of the US Army, where she received numerous awards and recognitions.
Mid-Hudson News is honored to provide a space to personnel from recognized veteran service organizations to address issues affecting our heroic warriors. Organizations interested in providing submissions can send requests to [email protected] with “Veterans Corner” as the subject line.
Twenty years ago this May, I threw my white cap in the air with 900ish of my classmates and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. Four years before that, a wide-eyed 17-year-old kissed her parents and walked across Michie Stadium for R-Day.
The beginning of my time at West Point was full of lots of pushups. When I started in 2000, women had only been allowed in the academy for 24 years, with the first women graduates walking in 1980. It was an interesting four years.
I majored in Spanish and Portuguese with no real idea of what I would do with this degree. I was lucky enough to be high enough ranked in my class to get both my first choice of branch (Military Police) and Post (Germany – that I later traded with a classmate for Fort Lewis).
I served 5 years active duty, deploying with my platoon to Egypt. After my platoon leader time, I moved to a Logistics Battalion to fill their Military Police slot and later was promoted both to Captain and to the Operations Officer position. I returned to my MP roots and served as the Battalion Executive Officer for the prison battalion at Fort Lewis as my last active-duty assignment. I then transitioned into the reserves. I served as a personnel officer, operations officer, special projects officer, and…
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