BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. –
She was 17 years old, looking for adventure and a way to break away from the small New England community in which she'd grown up. It was 1973 when Jessica Palmer decided to leave home and join the Air Force.
Today, 37 years later, as she prepares to retire, Chief Master Sergeant Palmer looks back with fondness and amusement on a military career that has spanned nearly four decades.
The Vietnam War was still raging in 1973 when Palmer packed her bags for Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "I didn't really think about that too much," she said. "I just wanted something different (after high school). I wasn't ready to go to college yet, so I knew I needed the security of employment, a place to live, and, something which is always important to me, good food to eat."
Palmer enlisted in the Women's Air Force and, at the completion of Basic Training, received her first duty assignment to Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, as a material specialist. "I was told I'd be working with flight suits and space suits, and I thought that was so important. Really what it was, I was going to be a supply person," Palmer said.
According to Palmer, there weren't a lot of career fields open to women at that time. In fact, a lot of military bases were not open to the WAF. At the time of her arrival, Reese Air Force Base had just opened to women, allowing them to work at the clinic and as secretaries for commanders. Palmer was the first woman assigned to work in the warehouse.
"The people I worked with didn't know how to deal with me. They thought they were going to have to change the way they did business," Palmer said.
Her first day on the job, Palmer's supervisor informed her that he was not going to change. "He told me he was not going to change his language, I was not going to get any special treatment, and, heaven forbid, if I had 'that time' I needed to be by myself...well, they were just not going to put up with that."
Palmer said she was fine with that. "My father raised me to believe that I could do anything. If someone told me I couldn't, it became a challenge," she said. "The question was, how do I get them to accept me? Will they ever let me drive the forklift?"
In late 1977, at the end of an assignment to Vandeberg Air Force Base, Calif.,, Palmer decided to separate from the Air Force to take a job with a chemical company in Woodland, Calif. She went back to school at American River Junior College. One day, a classmate suggested she join the Reserves if she wanted "some easy money."
Palmer joined the Reserves and cross-trained into logistics plans. She became a First Sergeant. "These were things that weren't even open to women five or ten years earlier," Palmer said.
Recalling how she'd joined the Air Force as a WAF, Palmer said, "At my first duty assignment, I had belonged to 2 different squadrons. (As a WAF), I had a woman commander and a woman first sergeant, but I'd worked in the supply squadron under a male commander and a male first sergeant." Shortly after she had joined, the Air Force phased out the WAF and began transitioning to a total force concept in the early '80s,
"The interesting thing was, just ten years later, I was the First Sergeant of a squadron. Not a men's or a women's squadron, but A squadron!"
Throughout her career with the Reserves, Palmer said she cross-trained five times in order to promote herself. "The one thing I've learned about being in 'my Air Force' is that you can do anything you desire to do, but you must promote yourself," Palmer said. "If you have the opportunity to cross-train to do something different or to go to a different state or a different country, try something new! If you're wiling to do that, the world is yours!"
Palmer encourages others to be positive. She believes everyone has the ability to lead, to teach, and to create a positive change. "Pass on your knowledge and the understanding that the only thing that can hinder you is self-doubt. If one can set that aside...then, you can do anything," she advised.
Reflecting on her own career, Palmer said that she has embraced every chance to do something different. "Goodness, I've been everywhere. I've loved the travel and the camaraderie. I've had the opportunity to work with true professionals, real patriots, who believe that the work we do is good and we provide a service to our country."
Palmer will retire June 5th at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., bringing to an end over 35 years of service to her country. "The changes I've seen have been amazing," she said. "I've learned a lot. Most important probably is that change continues to happen in order to promote growth. New people bring new ideas and a sense of excitement. It's time for me to step aside and let new people with new ideas step forward."
Palmer said her personal journey is merely at a fork in the road. After taking some time off to travel with her sister, she plans to return to California to work with Habitat for Humanity and Mustard Seed School in Sacramento.
"If, at the end of the day, you're proud of the things you've done...it doesn't get any better than that," Palmer said. "I've done good work. And, I'm very fortunate because my life has played out in such a way that I can continue doing good work, and I'm excited."