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NEWS | March 30, 2006

Speaker shows women how to break glass ceiling

By 1st Lt. Wendy Condrey 1st Services Squadron

At 33 years old, when most people are just settling into life, career and marriage, the 153rd Mission Support Group commander was just beginning her greatest adventure.

“I pulled myself up by the boot straps, so to speak, to get where I am today,” said Col. Rita C. Meyer. “I was born into a large and very poor family. We lived in an isolated rural setting. College wasn’t an option for me immediately after high school.”

Colonel Meyer is scheduled to share her story with Langley members March 24 during the Women’s History Month Luncheon at the Officers’ Club.

In 1984, she enlisted as a medical technician with the 187th Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, Wyoming Air National Guard. She was commissioned as a Medical Service Corps Officer in 1986 and was selected for a line position in 1992.

Now she is 55 years old, and although Colonel Meyer thinks she has always been about 15 years behind her peers in terms of where she is in her professional life, she’s right where the Air Force and women need her.

As the 153rd Mission Support Group Commander, Colonel Meyer directs and supervises all base infrastructure operations to include security, civil engineering, logistics, aerial port, contracting, base services, and command, control and communications.

Colonel Meyer deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Dec. 31, 2004, where she commanded the 455th Expeditionary Mission Support Group. Her four main goals were:

  • Keep people and resources mission-focused
  • Implement baseline Air Force quality of life standards
  • Uphold Air Force standards and culture
  • Improve future Air Expeditionary Force rotations (the 455th AEW rotates more than 700 Airmen every 120 days)

    Colonel Meyer is “very proud to have led these professional young war fighters. You can never fully appreciate what it truly means to have an all volunteer force until you are deployed into the theater of war. Our young men and women are the best trained and equipped bar none. Their work ethic and attitudes are exceptional and, truly, they are a joy to command.”

    During her command, the mission support group personnel met or exceeded all of the expectations of the wing commander, Brig. Gen. Jim Hunt, for AEF 3/4.

    While in Afghanistan, Colonel Meyer also had the opportunity to speak at the International Women’s Forum in Bagram. The things she saw while there left an imprint on her.

    “The infrastructure and institutional devastation in Afghanistan is so overwhelming that it is difficult for anyone to comprehend even for those of us with our boots on the ground,” she said. “Television and other forms of reporting cannot adequately capture the scale of human suffering that has been borne by the Afghan people, especially the women and children. What has happened to Afghan women and children cannot simply be labeled or treated as ‘women’s’ issues, they are society’s issues.

    “Women, especially, have a unique responsibility to lean forward and step to the front of the line to help Afghan women and children,” she added.

    Her list of professional accomplishments also includes graduating from the prestigious National Defense University in Washington D.C. and serving for six years as a member of Senator Malcolm Wallop’s Military Service Academies Nomination Committee.

    All her experiences and accomplishments made Colonel Meyer the leader she is today, yet she continues to improve herself. One of her favorite quotes comes from former Army Chief of Staff, General Gordon Sullivan, who said, “Hope is not a method.”

    “I continuously tweak my personal and professional long-range plan,” she said. “I’m always in the process of scanning the future and moving my plan forward to accommodate change in myself and changes in the environment. I have always mentored and encouraged both my colleagues and my subordinates to vision and plan.

    “I’m happy but never fully satisfied with where I’m at personally and professionally. I’ve had a great fulfillment in my roles as both citizen and soldier.

    “But, it’s not over yet.”