By Kenneth Mullinax/ASU
Alabama State University has a long and proud history of producing graduates who have gone on to serve with distinction in various branches of the United States military. That pride will be on display on Saturday, Nov. 23, as the University celebrates Military Appreciation Day during the Hornets football game against the Panthers of Prairie View A&M University.
ASU's vice president of Institutional Advancement and director of the ASU Foundation, Colonel (ret.) Gregory Clark, was key in the organization of ASU's Military Appreciation Day, executed under the leadership of President Quinton T. Ross, Jr.
Clark served in the U.S. Army as Chief of Operations, National Disaster Medical Systems Team at Fort Sam Houston in Texas before coming to ASU. He feels it is important to highlight some of ASU's alumni who served the United States in the military.
"While it is impossible to list all of the Alabama State University alumni, both men and women - living and dead - who served in the military, we wish to highlight just a few who shared with us what being a member of the armed forces meant to them and how The Alabama State University added to their success," Col. Clark said.
Colonel (ret.) Deborah Scott Thomas (class of 1974) served in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Reserve for 33 years. A native of Montgomery, who resided in Maryland before retiring to Florida, she also served four years of active duty to help manage the Medical Service Support Group located at Andrews Air Force Base.
"Some of my more poignant duty took place during my service as part of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm as our nation fought and defeated Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein," said Thomas, a former Miss Alabama State University. "Although we won the war, we had many casualties and my medical support job had me working with the physicians, nurses and medical technicians who did their best to heal our brave wounded."
She shared that attending Alabama State University helped her in her service to the military and in the management of the multi-million-dollar company that she founded and where she served as president and chief executive officer before her retirement.
"As a student at O' Mother Dear, my accounting major gave me a great deal of insight into how to be successful in the Air Force, as well as how to manage our company and be successful in life," stated Col. Thomas. "I am pleased that our school is honoring the nation's veterans from all branches of the military."
Colonel (ret.) Darrell Adams (class of 1981) now lives in the Atlanta area and served in the USAF from 1982 - 2009.
"I was a nuclear missile launch site officer in North Dakota, manned an underground bunker site and was one of two officers within it who - upon the order of the President of the United States - would hit the button that would launch hydrogen bomb-laden intercontinental ballistic missiles against a foe," Col. Adams said. "I served in the middle of the Cold War as our nation was in a serious conflict with the forces of Communism across the world."
Later, he served at the Pentagon as a congressional affairs officer, lobbying members of the U.S. Congress to support military expenditures so the armed forces had the weapons and the manpower necessary to thwart evil from the Soviet Union (now Russia), The People's Republic of China and others.
"I would not have been successful in my military career had it not been for attending and graduating from ASU," said Adams, who was a member of the Mighty Marching Hornets Band. "Alabama State helped me deal with the obstacles that life put before me and taught me that the sky was the limit for me, which has helped me do well in both the military and in life."
Captain Oatice Thomas (class of 1978) is a Montgomery native (husband of Col. Deborah Scott Thomas) who served in the USAF for 12 years of active duty. He now lives in Florida. While in the Air Force, Thomas worked with nuclear weapons as a launch officer with the Strategic Air Command, overseeing the nation's Titan-II Nuclear Missiles.
"I absolutely loved serving America in the military," said Thomas, who was a business major while at ASU. "Being in the military allowed me to see most all of the country and the world and gave me a greater appreciation of the many cultures and diversity of people that exist."
He also shares that had it not been for his time at Alabama State University, he doubts that he would have been as well prepared to become successful in his life’s endeavors.
"Alabama State gave me the foundation to allow me to grow, learn and be prepared educationally and mentally; so, I could be prepared for any task or obstacle that confronted me," Thomas said. "ASU gave me the perception to absorb and thrive in whatever new environment that the Air Force - and later our business - placed me."
The Military Appreciation Day football game kicks off at 2 p.m. on Nov. 23.
For more information about game-day activities, visit the University’s website (www.alasu.edu) or its social media platforms.