Profile: Elizabeth Ortiz '93

Ortiz returns from Kyrgyzstan deployment

When Elizabeth Ortiz '93 attended CC, she intended to follow up with law school on her way to becoming a JAG, an Air Force lawyer. But "writing a thesis at CC burned me out for law school. I got a flash of intuition: I should join the Air Force now," says Ortiz.

Captain Ortiz recently returned to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany after a six-month deployment at Ganci base in Kyrgyzstan. At Ramstein, Ortiz's duties include working with members of the media, but in Kyrgyzstan, she did more community relations. "Looking back, I can say that my CC experience really taught me how to respect other people's opinions," says Ortiz.

The highlight of her Kyrgyzstan deployment, says Ortiz, was escorting Wall Street Journal reporter Greg Jaffe as he researched a May article on the Department of Defense's shift from main bases like Ramstein to small, mobile bases in austere or formerly hostile locations, like Ganci.

It's still hostile in some ways, says Ortiz. "We lived in an Arctic wonderland until mid-March. The snow never melted - I would go to the gym in long johns and work out with my gloves on!" Spending Christmas away from family was tough, she says, but interesting to "see the holiday through the eyes of our Kyrgyz interpreter. She was amazed that Americans have candy for specific holidays. I've always taken candy canes for granted, so it was nice to be reminded that for some people, it's a new and wonderful thing." —Anne Christensen