Bell Sisters Oral History

title:

Bell Sisters Oral History

creator:

Spranger, Malia Kathryn (Bell) (May 1965 - ) | Zerphy, Sabrina Susan (Bell) (17 May 1968 - 21 October 2023) | Mohr, Felicia Marilyn (Bell) (March 1976 - )

subject:

US Air Force Academy (USAFA), Air Force, AF Reserve | US Naval Academy (USNA), Navy | US Air Force Academy (USAFA), Air Force

description:

This is a group interview with Malia Spranger, Sabrina Zerphy, and Felicia Mohr, three sisters who attended the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy over the course of a decade. Malia Spranger (formerly Bell) graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1987 as a chemistry major, served on active duty as a personnel officer until 1992, then transitioned to the reserves, which she was still serving in as of the interview. Sabrina Zerphy graduated from the Naval Academy as an oceanography major in 1990, served on active duty in surface warfare on several ships, and resigned her commission in 1998. Felicia Mohr (formerly Bell) graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1998, worked in acquisitions for several assignments, and was an ROTC instructor at the time of the interview. Their father was a career Navy captain, serving as a dentist on aircraft carriers and several tours through Vietnam. Malia remembers one of these tours, because she and Sabrina—at ages five and two respectively—were brought on a trip following their father’s tour through the Pacific by their mother, including stops in Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. Malia chose to attend the Air Force Academy partially because they had mostly grown up on the west coast, and because she felt that it offered academics that were just as good as an Ivy League school with much smaller class sizes. All three sisters were also competitive gymnasts, which they were, in part, recruited for. One reason that Sabrina chose to attend the Naval Academy was because she wanted to get space from Malia. Malia always took care of her, and she wanted to be responsible for taking care of herself. When Felicia attended the Air Force Academy, she didn’t notice any limitations on what women could do, especially because she started there after women were allowed to pilot all aircrafts, including fighter jets. When Felicia was a cadet, Malia was a reservist and her husband was stationed at the Air Force Academy as an instructor, so she had extra support in her years there. Felicia has found her time as an ROTC instructor to be her most rewarding assignment, because rather than working with people with 15-20 years of experience in their careers, she’s working to prepare cadets who are only just beginning to explore the Air Force and their own abilities as leaders. Malia’s most challenging experience was as a reservist. She was on her two-week annual tour at Central Command on 9/11, so she was on a team that contacted reservists to tell them they had to report in and prepare for deployment. Sabrina’s most challenging tour was her first year as a first division officer. While the Naval Academy is there to teach cadets the fundamentals, but her first sea tour was when she actually had to put that leadership training into practice with real situations and real consequences. All three sisters were gymnasts, so one reason they think they may have struggled less than other women was because the physical side of being a cadet wasn’t as much of a challenge for them, which helped them blend in more. As of the interview Malia and Felicia were still serving in the Air Force Reserve and Air Force respectively, and Sabrina left the service in 1998. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Maliszewski, Jane

date:

2006-10-21

type:

Moving Image

format:

Mini-DV

identifier:

656; 2006.656

source:

3rd Annual Academy Women Symposium | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

NR | NR | NR

coverage:

1984-1987, 1987-1992, 1992-interview | 1986-1990, 1990-1998 | 1994-1998, 1998-interview

rights:

Unrestricted