A “Role Model”

California Air National Guard medical officer, Lt. Col. Susan Pangelinan, is a “role model” for her endeavors in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, according to officials who presented her with a DOD STEM Role Model Award last week during a Women in Military Service for America Memorial event in Arlington, Va. Pangelinan served in the 1991 Operation Desert Storm and helped manage medical resources at the Pentagon following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, serving on active duty and in the Air Force Reserve before joining the Air Guard in 2002. During last year’s California wildfires, she worked with a multi-state, multi-agency disaster response force. She said at the award event, “It’s not so much what you know, but it’s more your ability to apply what you know in such situations.” (National Guard Bureau report by Air Force MSgt. Mike Smith)