Fall 2024 Behan Law Group Military Veteran Scholarship Winner

Cassandra Royer

Cassandra credits the Air Force for molding her into the woman she is today. After 20 years of service, Cassandra looks forward to becoming a nurse and continuing to help people in any way she can. Our firm is proud to award this brave veteran with this scholarship award to help her pay for her studies.

Read Cassandra’s Essay:

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe was the first African American male to win the 1968 US open. He was also very active in the civil rights moment and was even arrested for his actions in protesting in Washington D.C. He used his talent in tennis to open the door for others like him to compete in the sport. Likewise, military service comes at a high cost, the urge to serve others and meet the needs of those around you most come before your own needs. The Air Force has three core values, Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence in all we do. These core values would play out at different times in my career and shape who I am today.

When I enlisted into the Active-Duty Air Force at the age of 19, I only had one thing in mind. Get these four years done, get out and pay for nursing school. I never dreamed that I would be on the cusp of completing my 20 years of service today.

I grew up in the Air Force. I had been attending Glendale Community College in 2006 and was struggling to pay for books and for my classes. I was the first in my immediate family to attend college. My parents were clueless on how to help me and I was alone to figure out how to pay for and get through my classes. The Air Force recruiting office was placed right next to the college book store. I had just spent over 400 dollars on books and was downcast and broke when I walked into the recruiting office. I told the recruiter I wanted a medical job, what could he do for me? He said with my medical background as a certified nursing assistant and the completion of my first semester in college I could enlisted and become an Aerospace Medical Technician. I wanted to stay close to home but the Air Force had other plans. My first duty station was Aviano Italy. So, at nineteen years old I moved across the ocean, to a foreign land, with a different language and didn’t know one person. I delt with loneliness for the first time in my life. I learned how to make friends and was mentored by NCOs who parented me and cared for me at my overseas assignment. I learned my job well and eventually passed my skill level test and promoted from AMN to A1C. In my personal life, I meet another Airmen in the dorms and feel in love and got married in a hurry. By the age of 20 I was pregnant with my first child. At this time, deployment tempo was very and high and there was a possibility that my spouse and I would deploy at the same time. I elected to separate and joined the Air Force Reserve at the 944th ASTS at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale Arizona, close to home. I spent the next 9 years at this unit. I mastered my job and gained my seven level. I also promoted from A1C to SrA, to SSgt and then to TSgt. I completed my Community College of the Air Force degree in Practical nursing. I eventually cross trained to a new AFSC as medical admin and got a full-time job at the unit. I was the first unit deployment manager in my unit to package and deploy a team of doctors, nurses and medical techs to the middle east. The first in over five years to do so. In my personal life, I had my second daughter, went through a divorce, and become a single mom to my two girls. I was able to buy my first house. In this timeframe I meet my now husband and applied for an active guard position at the 162nd Morris Air national guard base in Tucson Arizona. In 2018 we moved from Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona. I am currently at this unit as a traditional guardsman.

My experience in the Air Force as a Medical Technician has prepared for the huge step in front of me. I was accepted into the nursing program at Pima Community College. I know that my life in the Air Force has brought me to this point. The nursing program is highly competitive and extremely demanding. I feel that I am ready to bare that stress because of the skills the Air Force taught me.

In my professional life; I have served 15 years as an Aerospace Medical Technician, NREMT (Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician). I have a wide range of experience in the Medical Field. I started in the Pediatrics clinic at my first duty station in Aviano Italy, then moved onto an Aeromedical Staging Squadron, at the 944th at Luke Air Force base, where I cared for injured military members in the aeromedical evacuation system, and for the last four years I have been working in flight medicine at the 162nd Medical Group in Tucson, Arizona.

The Air Force also shaped me as a mother and gave me priceless skills and habits that helped me to serve my family better. I am a mother of three, two girls and one boy. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my best friends’ family, whose mother was a midwife. I remember being in awe of her and the exciting work she was doing, getting up in the middle of night to bring life into this world and provide care to new moms. Later on, when I was pregnant with my first, I knew I wanted the experience and care she offered. She walked me through my first birth and coached me over the phone, since I was living in a different state. I ended up having a great hospital birth because of her encouragement and care even at a distance. Then with my second, I was able to deliver at home with her and it was the most peaceful and caring experience. Lastly, my son was born at a birth center in the water. I was overjoyed to have labored my biggest baby at 9.5 lbs. with strength and courage into water while being held by my mother. I know the work of my soul is in the birth world. My long-term goal is to become a certified nurse midwife. Once I complete my schooling, I can sit for the NCLEX to get my RN. Once I get my RN I plan to work as a Labor and Delivery nurse. My education will be used to provide the best care possible to new mothers and their babies. I plan to eventually become a certified nurse midwife and run my own practice. This will allow me to provide care to underprivileged families without health insurance. I will also be able to provide necessary education for new parents to care for their newborn.

When people see me in uniform and thank me for my service, I am often clueless on what to say. The Air Force has given me everything. My family, my education and training and life experience that few get the chance to have. I will be forever grateful to the Air Force and those I met and grew to love and trust along the way.