|
 When
Lisa L. Carter was an
Atlanta postal worker caring
for her two-year-old
daughter, she had a strong
feeling she was capable of
more. Little did she know
that, almost two decades
later, she would be in
command of more than 90
soldiers in the sands of
Iraq. Nor would she have
predicted that a Bronze Star
would be pinned on her
uniform in 2003 for her
extraordinary service in
support of the 555th
Maintenance Company.
Spurred on by colleagues,
she joined the Army Reserves
in 1987 and was forever
changed when she saw a black
female officer and thought,
“If she can do it, surely I
can do it.” From that day
forward, she tirelessly
reached for excellence. In
1996, she received her
bachelor's degree in social
work from Georgia State
University and earned Army
lieutenant gold bars through
the school's ROTC program,
all the while raising a
family as a then-single
parent.
Around the Christmas holiday
of 2002, the 2/43 Air
Defense Artillery Battalion
and the 555th Maintenance
Company received their
deployment orders to Iraq
with 80 percent of the
company on leave. Carter had
a goliath task ahead, and
she embraced it. As the
555th Maintenance Company
Commander at Ft. Bliss,
Texas, she meticulously,
safely, and effectively
rail-loaded the entire
company of 51 pieces of
equipment in record time.
Under her leadership, the
unit's support of the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force
aided more than 65 contact
missions, recovered 45
vehicles, and repaired more
than 35 pieces of equipment
within a four month period.
Able to maintain a grueling
operational tempo, her
personnel were instrumental
in the battalion's 95
percent above readiness rate
during three critical weeks
of intense combat. For these
stellar accomplishments,
then-Captain Lisa Weems
(Carter) was awarded the
Bronze Star.
Now back in the United
States as member of the
Defense Department's Why We
Serve program, the major is
engaged in telling her story
to fellow citizens. From a
hard-working single mother
in Atlanta to a
distinguished Army major,
Carter now sums it up:
“Service members know that
this is their job and
responsibility – to serve.” |
