President Anja, new member Nicole Chavez and Sponsor Lori Garrison. Lori introduced Nicole at last week's meeting with the following Bio:
Nicole knew from an early age she wanted to serve our country and went to the US Army Basic Training before she even graduated from East HS. She then got her undergrad at UW, got married, had two children and earned her Master of Arts in Strategy at the Army War College. Nicole has served our country from Cheyenne to Southwest Asia to Afghanistan twice, across the US and back to Cheyenne.
Now, Colonel Patricia N. "Nicole" Chavez is the 153d Mission Support Group Commander at the 153d Wyoming Air National Guard here in Cheyenne. She leads a group of over 400 military, civilian and contractor professionals in planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing installation services and support to more than 1300+ military and civilian personnel and their families. Her diverse team provides all personnel, communications, civil engineering, logistics, contracting and security operations support for the 153d Airlift Wing’s mission.
Nicole has numerous awards, decorations and achievements. Two that stand out to me are the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak leaf clovers and Nicole was the 2012 Dept. of Defense Latina of the Year.
Nicole says the Rotary mission has always excited her and she has always felt welcomed and comfortable with the Rotary crowd. Nicole told me that Rotary has enriched the Chavez family. Her son Nic was accepted into the Young RYLA summer camp at a time when she was deployed and he was at a crossroad and needed to decide which path he was going take. After attending the camp, Nicole noticed that Nic was a changed young man and she saw a spark of ambition and excitement in his eyes. Nic went on to attend the RYLA camp and later became a RYLA camp counselor for several years. Nicole truly believes this is what set the trajectory for the many successes in his life and for that, she is grateful.
