Cheryl L. Sizer Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Only a part of this collection has been digitized.
What's in the full collection?: The collection contains a 2012 oral history transcript; digital photographs; three compact discs of music and one DVD of the United States Air Force Academy Band.
Full biography: Cheryl L. Sizer (b. 1964) served in the United States Air Force as a flautist from 1990-2010. She retired with the rank of master sergeant. Cheryl Sizer was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, but spent the majority of her childhood and adolescence in Lafayette, Louisiana. While attending Acadiana High School in Scott, Louisiana, Sizer found a love for playing the flute, and eventually went on to Loyola University in New Orleans where she studied music education. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Sizer decided to attend Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1990, Sizer auditioned for the United States Air Force Band, was accepted, and enlisted with the air force for four years. After basic training, Sizer was initially assigned to March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, before having to reenlist and transferring to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1994. Towards the end of her twenty years in the air force, Sizer was the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) for the United States Air Force Band's specialty ensemble Academy Winds, as well as for the concert band.After leaving the air force, Sizer and her family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and worked at a hospice facility.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Schools and Colleges
Branch of service: Air Force
Conflict: War on Terror, OEF, OIF (2001-Present)
Subject headings: United States--History--1945-
United States. Air Force
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

Pages

: Group photograph of Academy Winds; This is a group photograph of Academy Winds, an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band, during their final tour. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is second from left.

: Group photograph of Academy Winds; This group photograph shows Academy Winds, an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band, having fun together. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is in the front, on the left, holding a flute.

: Group photograph of Academy Winds; Academy Winds, an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band, are seen here in a group photograph. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is kneeling in the front row, first from left, holding a flute.

: Group photograph of The United States Air Force Academy Band; This is a group photograph of The United States Air Force Academy Band during a performance in 2010.

: Oral history interview with Cheryl Sizer; Primarily documents Cheryl Sizer's adolescence; her service with the United States Air Force Academy Band; and her life after service. Sizer discusses growing up in Louisiana, where she found a love for music and was very active with the First Baptist Church. She discusses her musical training at Temple University in Philadelphia, her introduction to the air force through a fellow musician, and her time in basic training. Sizer recounts the notable people she had the opportunity to meet while playing for the air force, including five U.S. presidents, Pope John Paul II, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. She recalls her love of being on stage, the criticism she received from other people in the air force who saw her job as being "cushy" and the guilt she felt when civilians thanked her for her service, because she considered herself a musician and not a soldier. Sizer also discusses having to deal with sexual harassment, the change of the air force culture over twenty years, and her notion that the air force needs to embrace women and the role that they play in the military." Personal topics include meeting her current husband while in Colorado, who also played for the U.S. Air Force Academy; her easy adjustment to civilian life; and the honor she feels having been a part of the United States Air Force.

: Photograph of Academy Winds; This is a group photograph of Academy Winds, which is an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is in the front row, first from left, holding a flute.

: Photograph of Academy Winds in concert; This photograph shows a performance of Academy Winds, an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is first from left.

: Photograph of Academy Winds in concert; This photograph shows Academy Winds, an ensemble of members of The United States Air Force Academy Band, on tour. Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is first from right.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is seen wearing her Service Dress Uniform while playing the flute in The United States Air Force Academy Band.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; This photograph shows Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer in a U.S. Air Force Academy Band performance.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; This is a group photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, third from left, with members of the United States Air Force Academy Band. They are seen wearing their Service Dress Uniforms.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is seen here, second from left, in a group photograph with members of the United States Air Force Academy Band. They are seen wearing their Service Dress Uniforms.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; This photograph shows Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, on right, in her Service Dress Uniform with unknown companion.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is seen here, first from right, playing a tin whistle and performing a Scottish musical piece with the United States Air Force Academy Band.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer is seen here playing the flute and performing with the United States Air Force Academy Band.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, on left, is seen here wearing her Service Dress Uniform and performing a duet with a memeber of the United States Air Force Band.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, second from left, is seen here performing with three other members of the wind section of The United States Air Force Academy Band. They are wearing their Service Dress Uniform.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; This photograph shows Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, on left, with Chief Master Sergeant Mark A. Burditt.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; This photograph shows Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, on right, with oboist, Technical Sergeant Monica Ding.

: Photograph of Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer; Master Sergeant Cheryl Sizer, on right, is seen here with President Ronald Wilson Reagan. She is wearing her Service Dress Uniform.

Pages

In collections

Women Veterans Historical Project