Air Force Veteran continues service with U.S. Army medical materiel development team [Image 9 of 15]

FORT DETRICK, MD, UNITED STATES

11.10.2022

Photo by Scotty Hogan 

U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA)

Chris Benson was absolutely sure of one thing before she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force: the Navy was definitely not an option. Tagging along with her father, Chief of the Ship, Command Master Chief Petty Officer Webster Wallace, to work aboard ship one day – he was then assigned to the USS Seattle (AOE-3) – Benson could not imagine living in the small confines familiar to the men and women who make up the Navy’s fleet aboard vessels across the globe. So, after high school, Benson, currently the Command Support Coordinator in the Office of the Commander, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) at Fort Detrick, Md., took aim at the ‘Wild Blue Yonder,’ enlisting as a Bioenvironmental Engineering Technician. “My style is transformational,” said Benson, who met her best friend and future husband, now retired Air Force Chief Mater Sgt. Gerald Benson, while in the Air Force. “I focus on the future, moving toward our mission. Also on people – mentoring is extremely important to me. As well as setting up what is expected, having processes and teamwork. And last, I am comfortable with change; even understating that it is not only constant, but necessary.” Change has been a constant for the self-described “Navy brat,” first during childhood, then as an Airman serving across the world, now as the chief coordinator of unit administrative tasks at USAMMDA – her daily duties and responsibilities are too numerous to list, but, according to Benson, the paces suits her. Reflecting on the special status she holds as a Veteran, Benson credits her parents, Webster and Georgetta, her family, and the lessons learned in the Air Force as part of her success. “[I joined the Air Force for] my sense of patriotism and my father's influence, and I wanted a different path than school at the time,” she said. “My parents were amazing and instilled an incredible work ethic and values in me that made me who I am today. The training and skills a Veteran learns in the military are invaluable in the civilian world, and vice versa. The civilian world taught me to ‘soften’ my hard military exterior to be a better leader.” (Official U.S. Army Photo by Scotty Hogan/Released)

• Date Taken: 11.10.2022
• Date Posted: 11.10.2022 10:03
• Photo ID: 7507305
• VIRIN: 221102-A-WW903-027
• Resolution: 5205x3463
• Size: 9.88 MB
• Location: FORT DETRICK, MD, US
• Hometown: FORT DETRICK, MD, US
• Hometown: FREDERICK, MD, US