Cheri Lewis:  

Chapter 1: SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT CHERI L. LEWIS (Retired 5 Nov 2013) Cheri was born into the military to Richard and Katherine Lewis in 1956 in Ft Hood, Texas. She travelled with her family from one Army post to another in both the United States and overseas throughout her childhood. With a few assignments to Ft Lewis, her father eventually ended up retiring in the area and Cheri graduating from Franklin Pierce High School, Parkland, Washington in June 1974. She joined the Air Force Reserve on 10 July 1974 and ultimately began her career on 1 Oct 74 departing for basic training. She left basic and headed to Chanute AFB, IL (now closed) for Aircraft Electrical Repairman school and graduated and returned to McChord AFB March 1975 and became a Traditional Reservist. She took on a job as a Nursing Assistant at Cottesmore Nursing Home, Gig Harbor and then West Coast Door where she experienced a on the job injury that would ultimately change her military career that stayed with her until today, Education and Training. Cheri retrained into her current specialty in 1983 and was hired into the ART program in Maintenance in 1986, by retired CMSgt Lee White. When the job opened up at the wing in 1990-Cheri was reluctant to take the job, but CMSgt White virtually ordered her to accept the position for her career! One of her main duties in this position was formal schools-where she gained a report with HQ that resulted in obtaining school quotas that were sometimes hard to obtain...in some cases by sending annual Washington State Care Packages to the Hq. She was ultimately assigned as the Education and Training Flight Chief in 2005. Although the education and training of the wing personnel was her first priority, she had several additional duties...Expand for more