SP4 Kathleen A. Rasmussen, USA PhD Ret. Oral History

title:

SP4 Kathleen A. Rasmussen, USA PhD Ret. Oral History

creator:

Rasmussen, Kathleen Anne (Golden) (1958 September 16 - )

subject:

Army

description:

Kathleen Anne Rasmussen (formerly Golden) was born on September 16, 1958 in Hammond, Indiana. She grew up with her parents and three older siblings in a suburb outside of Chicago, Illinois. Her parents could not pay for them to go to college, so all four siblings had to find a way to pay their own way through higher education. One of her brothers did so through the Holy Cross Brothers, and Kathleen and her two remaining siblings did so through miliary service. Her other brother joined the Navy, her sister joined the Air Force, and she joined the Army. She signed up through a delayed star program while in high school, graduating in 1976 and officially entering the Army in September of that year. She was interested in the medical corps but there were no openings, so she instead pursued flight operations. She went to basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama and advanced training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, graduating from flight operations school in February 1977. She was at the top of her class and received an immediate promotion, and was assigned to Fort Rucker since that is the location that specialized in flight training and Army aviation. She largely coordinated and scheduled everything related to flights, including training, aircraft availability, students, instructors, equipment, fuel, and more. She remained at Fort Rucker until leaving the service in August 1981. Her goal was to graduate from law school using the GI Bill, so she started at Enterprise State Junior College in Enterprise, Alabama to get an associate’s degree in 1983. Then she enrolled at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama and got a bachelor’s degree in justice and public safety. Instead of going to law school, she got three master’s degrees in public administration, justice and public safety, and political science in 1986, 1987, and 1988 respectively. She began a PhD program in public administration and public policy at Auburn University in 1991, completing it in 1998. She worked in different offices within the state of Alabama between 1986, primarily in the Department of Community Affairs. She was hired as the State Juvenile Justice Program Director in 2001. When she left the service Rasmussen had reached the rank of specialist 4, and for her service she was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, and Army Service Ribbon. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Bellafaire, Judy

date:

2004-08-18

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

766; 2004.766

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

345773

coverage:

1970s | 1976-81

rights:

Unrestricted