Female AF lt. col. will retire this year

The Dunbar grad got to see the world.

Back when she was a senior at Wright State University, Kris Vier had no idea a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit a career fair on campus would alter her life significantly.

After graduating from Dunbar High School, Vier, 44, headed to Wright State University to major in International Studies and French. She knew she wanted to “see the world” but wasn’t sure how she would ever do it. At a career fair she was drawn into the Air Force booth that said “See the World.” She remembers asking lots of questions, liking the answers and hoping this could be her ticket to see the world.

“Prior to this I had had nothing to do with anything military, but I liked what they offered me,” Vier said. She also remembers stories her grandfather shared about his travels around the world. Vier is the granddaughter of the late Dan and Betty Coughnour, formerly of Oakwood.

Lt. Col. Kris Vier will retire from active duty on Dec. 1 after 20 years of serving her country and seeing the world. Vier graduated from Air Force OTS (Officer Training School), a 90-day program headquartered in Montgomery, Ala. “I came out as a 2nd lieutenant and was sent to Intel School at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas.” It was here she learned what would become her career. “Essentially I learned about other powers’ threat systems, air craft and missiles and trained our pilots how to detect them, avoid them and end them.”

Her tours of duty have taken her to Creech AFB in Nevada where she was the Intel officer for the 9th recognizance squadron, to Bosnia twice, Hungary, Germany, Korea, Afghanistan, the Netherlands and her current location in Los Angeles. It was in Germany that Vier met her husband, Andrew Moriarty, himself a Canadian who has never served in the military. “We met through a ski club in Germany.”

Vier is glad she served but is looking forward to retirement. She and her husband plan to take a year to ski and sort through their options for the future. “But ultimately I want to go back to school to become a physician’s assistant.”

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