Beaver Area JROTC’s mission is to make people better citizens, and that’s what Colonel Deb Wilson is here to do. Even after serving 30 years in the Army (she retired in May 2018) she’s not ready to put away her uniform just yet.

After retiring from active duty she moved to teaching JROTC in New Jersey for one year.

“I really liked it there [New Jersey] a lot, but I came back to Beaver to be close to home. I want to be close to my family, and now that I’m retired from the army I finally have a choice in where I live,” said Col. Wilson.

Though she attended high school in Georgia, Col. Wilson has family in the area.

Once Col. Wilson retired from the Army she knew she wanted to be a JROTC instructor. Surprisingly, she used to work for our own Colonel Loudermilk 10 years ago. So when she found out he was retiring she connected with him about exactly when he was going to retire. Once she found out it was only another year she taught at a school in New Jersey before coming to Beaver Area High School to be his replacement.

The JROTC connect command curriculum structures each class so that every grade does something a little different—kind of how math has different levels. In addition to traditional classroom activities, the program does a lot of community service events, and the mission of JROTC is to make people better citizens. The biggest part is to make sure the students understand their role in the community.

“My favorite thing about Beaver is how involved the students are in the program compared to the kids at my previous school!” exclaimed Col. Wilson, but with that being said she admits the hardest part, “Has been getting adjusted to the schedule since there is something at 5:30 or 6 a.m. every morning. But that also means I get to get off early!”

In her free time she loves to go golfing with her granddaughter who is currently staying with her for the year. Also, something interesting about Colonel would be that all three of her kids went into the military, and she is so proud of her kids for going into the military without any persuasion from her.

Col. Wilson attended high school in Columbus, Georgia and was actually a cadet in her school’s JROTC program. Col. Wilson then went to college at the University of Tampa to earn her bachelors, and she got her masters degree from Troy State University and another masters from the Army War College and an executive NBA from Case Western.

Be sure to welcome Col. Wilson to the Bobcat family!