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© 2013 KentuckyGuard
Story by Sgt. Brandy Mort, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
2nd Lt. Cassandra Mullins salutes her husband, Master Sgt. Tim Mullins during a commissioning ceremony in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 27, 2014. Mullins, like her husband, also serves as a trooper with the Kentucky State Police. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond)
FRANKFORT Ky. – Led by an unwavering passion to strive to always be a better person, one female Citizen, Soldier and Police Officer, continues to dedicate herself to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to the Kentucky National Guard, and the Kentucky State Police.
Newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Cassandra Jo Mullins graduated Officer Candidate School at the State Capitol in Frankfort, Sept. 27, becoming one of 30 new leaders for the Kentucky Guard.
Kentucky National Guard 2nd Lt. and Kentucky State Police Detective Cassandra Mullins received the Kentucky State Police Citation for Bravery in Frankfort, Ky., May 14th. (photo submitted)
Mullins protects the Commonwealth of Kentucky in more than one way; as a Guardsman and as a trooper assigned to the KSP’s Training Academy. She has served in the Kentucky National Guard since 2012 and is a 5-year veteran of the KSP.
“Being an officer in the Kentucky Guard and a trooper go hand in hand,” said Mullins. “I try to look around to see how I can make a difference by making the world a better place. I think that one person can make a big difference, no matter how small you may think you are and no matter how many hats they wear. No matter what uniform you wear, you can make a difference.”
Mullins has various inspirations in her life, to include her mother and her husband. Both people have played key roles in the woman she has become today. Her mother taught her what kind of woman she wanted to be.
“My mother was a little woman,” said Mullins. “ She was a little over 5 feet tall and a little more than 100 lbs. But the impact she had on the woman I’ve become today has changed my life forever. My goal in life is to have the same drive and determination she had during her life.”
Her husband is also a trooper with the KSP and a Guardsmen. He has always been one of her biggest motivators and he has always been her number one supporter.
Master Sgt. Tim Mullins and his wife, 2nd Lt. Cassandra Mullins now share the same two occupations, as both serve the commonwealth as troopers with the state police and as Soldiers in the Kentucky National Guard. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. David Bolton)
“I am one hundred percent supportive of my wife’s decision to join the military and her choice of being an officer,” said Master Sgt. Tim Mullins. “Cassandra is a natural born leader. Her personality and attitude sets her up to be a perfect military leader. She is one of the hardest working and most driven people I have ever met. She is also very kind and compassionate and humble, all of which are great aspects of a military leader.”
Mullins hopes within the first year to motivate and shape female soldiers, as well as junior enlisted Soldiers, and help them reflect on what they’ve accomplished and ask what is next for them. She wishes they will always strive to reach forward in the same way she has, in order to make their communities, their state, their country and their world a better place.
Staff report
November is Military Family Appreciation Month, a celebration of the Military Family in which the Department of Defense and the nation honors the commitment and sacrifices made by the families of the nation’s service members. We offer the following to raise awareness on matters of importance among Kentucky’s unsung heroes.
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Money is often cited as the number one problem when it comes to preserving domestic tranquility. Money builds us up and it brings us down. Some think it is the key to happiness; the mismanagement of it is most certainly key to our misery.
Not everybody has a Santa to bail them out during the holiday spending season. Good money management can be the greatest gift your family can receive. (Kentucky National Guard file photo)
In the military community money is a huge factor when it comes to wartime deployment. Adding to those hardships are complications arising from pay issues, particularly during the recent sequestration and federal shutdown.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Kentucky National Guard recognizes these challenges. Regina Harris is an accredited finance counselor on staff with the Family Programs as a personal finance counselor. Let’s see what she has to say about money and what to do about it.
So what exactly is your job?
My official mission is to assist service members with any personal financial issue that arises in their or their families lives. I strive to let them know that my services are free, anonymous and confidential.
Is this strictly a National Guard program?
While I work with National Guard Family Programs, I’m available to help any military service member, active duty and reserve force. We support Kentucky’s entire military community.
What are some of the financial challenges military families face?
Couples don’t always see eye to eye on finances. It helps to have a neutral person assist or guide them to making sound financial decisions; establishing that neither person is right or wrong. We can always realize outlandish financial decisions without any other input.
It’s not just married couples, either. Single service members often need someone to talk with about financial accountability. I can do that for them. Service members sometimes want guidance on budgeting, buying a car, buying auto or life insurance, buying a house, getting into an apartment, child support, preparing for a Furlough or answering a Security Clearance inquiry. Also, relieving debts, saving for emergencies and retirement are worthy topics.
Does a military service member have to be in trouble to use your services?
No, you do not have to be in financial distress. A personal finance counselor may be the only phone number you have to connect you to other resources; we gladly connect. Even when things are going fantastically well financially we can be a sounding board to help you plug any possible financial oversights or to agree with your plan.
Do you ever visit units on site?
Yes, I’m happy to provide financial briefs at the unit level. I regularly attend Yellow Ribbon ceremonies and I’m available for other events as well.
It’s my pleasure to help service members feel good and in control of their money. It’s my passion to serve, it’s what I do and it’s why the DOD has provided these person financial counselor services for you.
If you need help with your finances or just have general questions contact Regina Harris at 502-548-4836 or [email protected]
Story by David Altom, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, and the Defense Department takes time to recognize and honor the dedicated service and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, both past and present, through military service in defense of our nation.
CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines — In 1991 U.S. Air Force and Marine personnel evacuated a truckful of munitions aboard a helicopter at the height of the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption at here. Clark AB closed down in November of 1991 ending almost a century of American military presence in the Philippines. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Val Gempis)
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Stacy Pesut’s earliest memories of leaving the Philippines aren’t really hers — she’s heard the story so often from her father, though, that they’ve become part of who she is.
“My dad says he remembers putting me on a duffle bag on the plane,” she says. “I was just a baby then, and he had to stay behind while my mom and I were evacuated.”
June 12, 1991, Mount Pinatubo eruption cloud from Clark Air Base (U.S. Air Force photo by R.S. Culbreth)
It was June of 1991 and Mount Pinatubo had erupted, killing 800 people and leaving 100,000 homeless. The amount of ash and smoke from the volcano was so severe that it actually lowered temperatures around the world for years to come.
Nearby Clark Air Force Base was devastated during the eruption, putting U.S. service members and their families at risk. Pesut was only a few weeks old when her mother and her father made a decision that would change her life forever. She and mom would fly out on a military transport while her dad, a military policeman with the Air Force, remained at his post.
Pesut’s father, Tony Horn, as a young United States Air Force military policeman. Horn stayed behind while Pesut and her mother were evacuated in the wake of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which killed more than 800 people in 1992. Horn is now a sergeant with the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. (Photo courtesy Spc. Stacy Pesut)
“My dad said it was really hard for him to see us leave,” said Pesut. “And it was really nerve-wracking for my mom because she’d never been away from home. She didn’t know anybody and she barely spoke any English, so it was really difficult for her.”
Pesut and her mother lived with her father’s mother in South Carolina. She was walking by the time her dad made it home. The family eventually settled down in Berea, Kentucky and for years Pesut considered herself a down home “country girl.”
One day that all changed.
“My dad came up to me and said, I think we’re going back to the Philippines for a year,” she said. “He had an opportunity to do some mission work for the church and we all went with him.”
The family had vacationed in the Philippines visiting family, but the idea of completely uprooting and moving to another country was a shock. Pesut joked that one of her main concerns was what they were going to eat.
“Until then my mom would fix two separate meals at home, Filipino food for herself and regular food for the rest of us. When I found out we were going to the Philippines I asked, are we going to have to eat Filipino food all the time?”
Before she was married, then-Pfc Stacy Horn took part in the Kentucky National Guard’s Be the Elite recruiting program, speaking at schools and helping promote the Guard’s image. (Photo courtesy Kentucky Army National Guard Recruiting)
The one year mission trip soon turned into two years, and that became eight. Pesut adapted to her new home just as her taste buds accepted new eating habits. She was a typical kid, going to school and making friends. Languages were a problem as she only spoke English, and the eastern Kentucky version of that.
“When I first got there they were going to make me do a report in front of the class, only it had to be in Filipino,” she said. “So here’s this little girl talking in this thick southern accent and I thought, I can’t speak Filipino. My uncle helped me write out some stuff, which I read in front of the class. Everybody laughed, saying you don’t pronounce it like that. I came home crying to my mom over that.”
Driven by this experience, Pesut became fluent in the two primary Filipino languages of Tagalog and Kapampangan. She overcame her shyness and became a praise and worship leader in her church, she graduated high school and majored in physical therapy at Angeles University Foundation.
Then came the time to return home. Coming back to the United States was yet another culture shock to Pesut. There was the language, of course, but other, little things were evident. Filipino culture is more conservative, she said, particularly when it comes to dressing modestly and the use of language.
Spc. Stacy Pesut and her classmates at Angeles University Foundation in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy Spc. Stacy Pesut)
“We don’t cuss much,” she said.
Most important was how differently her family interacts.
“It’s taken me a while to get used to how we’re all spread apart here in the states,” she said. “In the Philippines your house is next to your parents’ house, which is next to your grandparents house, and so on. We all live in a sort of family compound where we can get together and support one another.”
After settling down in Kentucky for a second time, Pesut began looking for a way to challenge herself even further. She also wanted to find a way to serve others, her nation in particular.
“I am from the Philippines,” she said, “But I consider the United States my home. I am a servant of God and I wanted a way to help other people.”
After discussing it with her father, Pesut decided to join the Kentucky National Guard. In an unexpected turn, dad not only supported her decision, he took her lead and joined up, too!
“He’d been in the Guard for a while before we went to the Philippines,” she said. “When I told him I wanted to join he said, I think I’ll go, too. So we went to the recruiter together and said, yep, we want to join.”
Spc. Stacy Pesut and her husband Sgt. Christopher Pesut. (Photo courtesy Spc. Stacy Pesut)
Her father, Sgt. Tony Horn, is currently in the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade where he works in communication technology. Spc. Stacy Pesut is a human resources specialist for the Kentucky Army Guard, as is her husband, Sgt. Christopher Pesut.
Aside from her family, Pesut’s strongest connection with her Filipino culture is with food. Her current favorite Filipino food is sisig, a which is a pork dish. Sisig is a Kapampangan term which means “to snack on something sour.” The meat is usually marinated in lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices.
“It’s pretty hot,” she said. “We plenty of chili peppers to spice it up.”
At home she and her husband eat lumpia, which is similar to an eggroll. She also fixes stir fry beef, and according to her husband, “rice on rice on rice.”
Spc. Stacy Pesut (center) with brother Joshua, mother Marifi, grandmother Leticia and brother Joseph. Pesut continues to keep in touch with her grandmother and extended family in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy Spc. Stacy Pesut)
She said it’s difficult to pin down a favorite American dish as she and her family now mostly eat Filipino food.
“Even when we have family gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom fixes food from the Philippines,” she said.
Pushed for an answer, she resorts to an American classic.
“You can’t go wrong with cheeseburger,” she said, laughing.
