Oral history interview with Kathryn Wirkus
Item description
Primarily documents Lt. Col. Kathryn Wirkus' education at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro [UNCG] and her service in the U.S. Air Force. Wirkus discusses her family and her childhood in Miami. She shares her reasons for attending UNCG; her academic experience; her college social life; living in the international dorm Phillip-Hawkins; and her passion for running. She talks about teaching in an open-space school in Miami and gives her reasons for leaving the teaching profession. She discusses working for the Greensboro magazine This Week in the Triad. Wirkus talks about her reasons for enlisting in the air force and recalls the reaction of her family and friends. Topics from Officer Training School include: the first day, living in dorms, the daily routine, her panic box, uniforms; social activities, friendships. She talks about her graduation from OTS and her company's FIGMO [finally I got my orders] party. She recalls the process to have her orders changed. Topics from Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama include: working in ROTC; being one of the few female second lieutenants; social activities. Topics from Headquarters Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Washington, D.C., include: her apartment; walking in President Ronald Reagan's inaugural parade; the International Junior Officers Club; creating standardized curriculum; fallout from a poor evaluation; homophobia in the military. Topics from Kirtland Air Force Base include: gender discrimination; running marathons; writing the base history; being passed over for promotion to major. She talks about her married to Tom Lott and her battle with kidney cancer. She discusses creating sexual harassment training at Norton Air Force Base; being sexually harassed by a higher-up; and receiving a poor evaluation. She briefly mentions her time living in Little Rock, Arkansas. Topics from Panama include: closing the canal; working with other military branches; building the US Southern Command reserve program. Wirkus talks about her friendship with Colonel Patricia Quisenberry. She discusses September 11, 2001, and its affect on the air force reserve, and talks about rebuilding the customer service system. Topics from Bogota, Columbia, include: the FARC [Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia]; the Colombian National Police; housing; natives; the bombing of a building and kidnapping of US contractors and a sergeant.
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