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NEWS | March 3, 2020

Capt. Brigette Miller: Why I Serve

By Courtesy 3d Medical Command (Deployment Support)

We all may wear the same uniform but everyone has a unique story on how they got here. ln recognition or Women's History Month, Capt. Brigette Miller talks about service. Capt. Miller with the 3d MC(DS) G8, comes from a strong military family. She is the fourth of nine children from a Gold Star Family, retired Master Sgt. Mark and Mary Miller.

 

My father, Mark, retired after 33 years of service and has been a leading example for the seven of us who have answered the nation’s call to military service. I am one of two Army Soldiers along with four serving in the Air Force and one in the Navy.

Born in Hartford County, Maryland, and growing up in New Hampshire, I always wanted to emulate my father and siblings by serving. In high school, I told my parents I wanted to join my father in the Army. They agreed but had one stipulation: I would be the first officer in the family. So during my senior year of high school, I applied for the Army ROTC Early Commissioning Program (ECP) Scholarship.

The ECP Program is an intense, accelerated U.S. Army ROTC program that allows graduates of one of the nation’s four military junior colleges to commission as officers in the U.S. Army Reserve or National Guard in two years, instead of the typical four. https://www.goarmy.com/rotc/courses-and-colleges/military-colleges.html

I was accepted into ECP at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where two years later I earned both my commission and associate's degree in health sciences. I was one of only two female graduates and one of 12 cadets awarded the Mustang Scholar scholarship. Following Valley Forge I graduated from Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania, and Finance Management Resource Basic Officer Leadership Course at Ft. Jackson.

I have always strived for the best with my military career, originally joining the Pennsylvania National Guard and supported Hurricane Irene relief with the 1067th Transportation Company. Coordinating and leading convoys containing purified water, food, and baby formula to the evacuees’ collection points My involvement working with FEMA and fellow Soldiers as we worked to care and protect the citizens of PA only further solidified my calling to be an American Soldier.

In 2015, I transferred to the Army Reserve and after completing company command of the 724th Transportation Company I was accepted into the AGR program and assigned to the G8-Resource Management Office as the Reserve Personnel Army (RPA) Chief. Here, I am responsible for managing a $32.6 million RPA budget that is utilized for missions and operations for Reserve Soldiers within the 3d MC(DS).

Looking forward, I have registered for the GMAT with the goal of applying for the Defense Comptrollership Program at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. The program provides future comptrollers/resource managers with the conceptual perspective, practical and analytical tools, and management skills required in the increasingly complex, volatile, uncertain, and ambiguous resource management environment.

Being a mother of two beautiful children, James, 4, and Ava, 2, life, the military and especially the AGR program comes with its own unique work obstacles and demands.

It is helpful my husband is prior military and when he was injured overseas and released from Warrior Transition Unit, he was assigned to the Inactive Readiness Reserve. This has provided our family the opportunity to have a parent stay at home with our two children. Having him at home provides so much to their work-life balance and has allowed me to focus on supporting 3d MC(DS) Soldiers and be a successful officer in the AGR program.

Like the military, success doesn’t happen alone, it is with the insurmountable support and love from my husband, siblings and extended family that enable I’m able to pursue the military career I love.