Belizean American Air Force Capt. Promoted to Major
There are hundreds of Belizean Americans serving in armed forces around the world. Most have led distinguished careers but are hardly ever recognized for their accomplishments in Belize. But earlier this week one young woman who has made her family and the country of her birth proud came home for a very special ceremony. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
It’s been three years since thirty-seven year old Cassandra Heusner has been home. But on Thursday, she returned to Belize so her family could witness her official promotion from Captain to that of Major in the United States Air Force.
The ceremony was officiated by Lt. Colonel Tammy McNamara, Chief of the U.S. Military Liaison Office in Belize, but it was mom June, grandmother Fermina, and niece Charlie who had the honour of pinning the new Major.
Heusner was born in California, but a year and a half later, her mother June moved to Belmopan. She spent her formative years in the capital, but at age seventeen, Cassandra left her classmates at the Belmopan Comprehensive School to enlist in the Air Force. She met and married fellow officer Dietrich Kirk and over the last twenty years, has served in places like Kosovo, Bosnia and South Korea, repeatedly earning the respect of her superiors.
Lt. Colonel Tammy McNamara, Chief of the US Military Liaison Office
“At every job we do we get evaluated in that job and they look at skills like integrity, honesty, who’s hard working, who goes out and does the tough jobs, who’s going to accomplish the mission with little to no supervision and those are the Captains that are going to get promoted first.”
Janelle Chanona
“What are you in charge of now?”
Major Cassandra Heusner-Kirk, United States Air Force
“Well, you know, I move up from basically a flight commander position and probably will be moving into basically Director of Operations for a Squadron. So instead of just a small unit, you’re talking about a larger unit, sometimes up to about a hundred and eighty-five people that you would be commanding.”
According to Kirk, it was important to share her major accomplishment with loved ones.
Major Cassandra Heusner-Kirk
“This is home and of course you know going through in the military we have different obligations and so forth and so sometimes we just can’t come home to do those promotions that are important to our family but this one, of course my grandmother is getting up in age, she’s eighty-nine years old now and we just said, we have to do it no matter what.”
June Heusner, Mother
“This is her dream and I don’t know if she’s going to stop. She just might continue so it’s a very proud day for me.”
Janelle Chanona
“She’s been in some tough places. As a mom how tough is it to watch her?”
June Heusner
“You pray, you pray. You use a lot of prayers. You pray that she goes in safe and comes out safe. Like when she was in South Korea for two years, it was a lot of prayers because you never knew what would happen.”
Janelle Chanona
“Your mom tells me you’re still very much Belizean.”
Major Cassandra Heusner-Kirk
“Yes.”
Janelle Chanona
“So yoh know I could knack yoh creole.”
Major Cassandra Heusner-Kirk
”Of course.”
Janelle Chanona
“So when you come home what do you make sure, I know you don’t have a lot of time. So when you come home what is it that you make sure you get in?”
Major Cassandra Heusner-Kirk
“I get in me boil up and me rice and beans, potato salad and of course my ma chicken, can’t miss that.”
The Kirks will spend the next five days in Belize. And while Major Kirk will return to her station at the Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana next week, Master Sergeant Kirk has been deployed to Al Dhafra in United Arab Emirates. Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
