My Story

Formally, my name is Edith Anne Disler, PhD, MBA, Lt Col (Ret) USAF, but you can call me "Edie".  In 1984, after 4 years in Air Force ROTC, I graduated from the University of Michigan and became an Air Force officer -- a 2nd Lieutenant. Over the next 25 years in the Air Force I got to do lots of very cool stuff: missile crew, providing executive support at the Pentagon, instructing at the Air Force Academy, attending graduate school, and conducting conventional arms control inspections in former Warsaw Pact countries. Somehow it didn't seem unusual to be doing what I was doing. Lots of women, it seemed, were in the military at the same time.  But, it turns out that all that cool stuff was fairly unique. Today, only seven-tenths of 1% of Americans serve in the U.S. military, and only 15% of that .7% are women.   Roughly speaking, if you gather up 1000 random Americans, no more than 9 of them are women who have served in the U.S. armed forces.  And the military of today is a "far cry" from the military of the Cold War era, in a lot of ways.  Yes, I have become one of those veterans who says, "well, back when I was in the military..."  And I am proud of it. I have also started my own business, consulted in higher education, and worked in state government.  All had their ups and downs.  And now I am a metal artist.  In my work I reflect on some of the changes the military has undergone, including the difficulty of the military to civilian transition.  Check out my Porcupineprose.com page as I also reflect on the experience of being a woman in her mid-50's in American culture.  Basically, there are lots of things to write about, think about, and share.