Photo By Airman 1st Class Rebecca Tierney | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Alison Gandulla, 4th Contracting Squadron contract...... read more read more
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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. - In uniform, Staff Sgt. Alison Gandulla is a contracting specialist defined by precision, accuracy and attention to detail. Beyond her Air Force duties, she is a poet, bridging the gap between a busy lifestyle and quiet moments of putting pen to paper.
At the 4th Contracting Squadron, Gandulla secures necessary contracts with off-base businesses, ensuring the wing has the resources it needs to stay mission-ready at all times.
Staff Sgt. Gandulla’s daily responsibilities directly support the mission by securing contractual support for base operations. One visible example of that impact is her involvement in the static displays outside the wing building, which showcase the heritage of the 4th Fighter Wing. Through her efforts, the project was properly supported and executed, allowing her to end each day knowing every effort was made to move the mission forward.
“Contracting is a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” Gandulla said. “We provide units with the supplies and services they need to get the mission done.”
As a mother of three, she finds her passion for poetry a source of personal expression and renewal, helping her maintain the resilience needed to serve her family and the 4th Fighter Wing mission.
Throughout her career, Gandulla has gained valuable skills that extend beyond her daily duties. “The Air Force has taught me discipline; I didn’t have much of that prior to joining,” she explained. “It taught me to be confident and realize that my voice matters and pushed me to take ownership of my own decisions.” These skills have built resilience and transfer over to her personal life as well.
In her personal time, Gandulla uses poetry as a creative outlet. She began writing in high school, recognizing from an early age that she had an affinity for the arts. Throughout a tumultuous upbringing, poetry remained a constant, a refuge that allowed her to feel seen and understood. That creative outlet followed her into adulthood and even overseas. During a recent deployment, Gandulla continued writing, using poetry to process isolation, stress, and the weight of her responsibilities.
“At first, poetry and writing started as a survival tactic,” Gandulla said. “Then, I realized as I wrote more, it helped me become aware of who I am and who I want to be, outside of the world’s expectations.”
Her writing style follows a conversational, free-verse approach rather than the structured format we often associate with poetry. Common themes in her poems focus on lived experiences and her journey with self-identity.
As she balances her career, motherhood, and writing, Gandulla pauses regularly to reflect on her priorities. “I take the discipline and confidence that I learned from the military and relate it to my writing. I use those skills to be consistent with my writing,” she said. “You have to be intentional with your time and make sure you set aside time for yourself.” She takes advantage of the quiet moments in her home late at night to put her thoughts on paper.
To Gandulla, personal passions are essential for Airmen to stay grounded and focused on the mission.
“When the uniform feels heavy, you need something to decompress and call your own,” she said. “Once the kids go to bed, even if it's five minutes, I take some time to write and get everything out.”
Through her poetry and story, Gandulla demonstrates how making time for personal passions can inspire others to do the same.
“I hope that when people read my poems, they realize there are others out there going through the same thing,” she expressed. “I hope they feel as though a hand is going through their chest and pulling out a feeling they’ve never had before.”
The following poem was written by Staff Sgt. Alison Gandulla.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly: Metamorphosis at Thirty-Eight
I have always been infatuated by the butterfly: its delicate, relentless journey from egg to caterpillar, chrysalis, and finally, winged freedom. Most butterflies complete this cycle in less than two weeks, yet some linger in their cocoons for months: Swallowtail, Monarch, Mourning Cloak. They wait, suspended in nature, until the world is ready to see them emerge.
I see myself in them. I began as an egg, tiny and vulnerable, holding the still promise of life waiting to unfold. I hatched into a caterpillar, consuming the world hungrily. Not just food, but knowledge, experience, and growth, stretching my body, mind, and soul toward the horizon. Childhood was the season of appetite.
Then came adulthood, and with it, the cocoon. I wrapped myself in invisible threads, a chrysalis of chaos and fear, yearning for transformation but hesitant to let go of the familiar. Unlike the butterflies I admired, I lingered far too long. Trauma, self-doubt, and the weight of others’ expectations became my walls. I mistook their praise for my own vitality, feeding on external validation while neglecting the quiet, demanding work of learning to nourish myself. How is one seen as extraordinary to everyone else yet feel hollow when alone?
Each night, I would fold into my blanket, cocooning myself against the chaos of my thoughts. The walls of my chrysalis became familiar, almost comforting, a sanctuary where racing ideas and unresolved feelings could collide freely. I loved butterflies, but I did not understand them yet. I was caught in the delicate, slow, necessary process of becoming.
And then, one day, I chose to wake up. I chose to awaken the long winter of my chrysalis, to feel the ache of transformation in my bones. Thirty-eight years had passed, but the wait had its purpose. I would not emerge as any ordinary butterfly. I would become a Swallowtail, a Monarch, a Mourning Cloak, the ones who endure the coldest, longest winters, who bear the weight of stillness to emerge rarer, brighter, and more resilient.
I am becoming a butterfly that knows the depth of waiting, the necessity of struggle, the beauty of time endured. I am becoming extraordinary. Not despite the darkness, but because of it.
– Alison Gandulla
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2026 14:14 |
| Story ID: | 558321 |
| Location: | SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Airman by Day, Poet at Heart: How One NCO Uses Poetry to Build Resilience, by A1C Rebecca Tierney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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