Lt. Col. Ann Janice Vogan
Lt. Col. Ann Janice Vogan was enrolled in an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) course at California State University, Long Beach during the 9/11 attacks in the United States. She can still remember the words and actions of her instructor, who ran into their classroom yelling, “America has been attacked!”
The weeks that followed solidified Vogan’s desire to become an officer in the U.S. Army.
“I reflected on all the opportunities that this country had provided to me and my family, and the events of 9/11 showed me just how precious these opportunities were to me,” Vogan said. “My dad immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in the mid ’80s and worked a minimum wage job making $3.35 an hour. He worked hard and, after five years, saved enough to be able to bring my brother and I to the U.S. in 1992. Serving in the U.S. Army is my way of thanking this country that gave me so many chances to succeed.”
Vogan, who had no military experience prior to enrolling in the ROTC program, was drawn to its emphasis on leadership and discipline. After three years in the program, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in May 2004 and entered active duty two months later.
Since then, Vogan has served all over the U.S. in a variety of roles, including as a platoon leader and rear detachment commander in Fort Polk, Louisiana; alpha company commander in Fort Carson, Colorado; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear intelligence analyst and deputy officer at the corps level in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Vogan also deployed to Iraq in 2010 as a company commander in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
In 2012, Vogan returned to her ROTC roots as an assistant professor of military science at Fort Valley State University in Georgia and later as the training and operations officer for the 8th Brigade United States Army Cadet Command at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. This led to her being boarded to lead the Department of Military Science and Leadership at Fresno State, housed within the Army ROTC.
As a professor and department chair, Vogan oversees 65 students (also known as cadets) in the program, as well as its team of faculty and staff (cadre).
Fresno State offers the ROTC program within two branches of the military, including the Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC. Both programs prepare students for careers in either the U.S. Army or U.S. Air Force, while completing their academic degrees. Upon completion of the program, students are commissioned as officers.
For Vogan, coming back to the ROTC to serve in a leadership capacity is a full circle moment that she does not take for granted.
“To me, this is a form of giving back and it’s also really nostalgic,” Vogan said. “Training our future Army leaders to become adaptive, agile and critical thinkers is one way I can make a positive impact on our cadets. Being in this role, I get to see them grow and improve each year, while expanding their thought processes and decision-making skills. Although I am teaching them, the truth is I learn from them every day.”
Air Force ROTC
Maj. Dinishia Maldonado
Major Dinishia Maldonado, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an instructor and operations flight commander in the Department of Aerospace Studies within the Air Force ROTC at Fresno State, shares the same sentiment. She has been teaching in the Air Force ROTC for the past year, and she said the experience has been immensely rewarding.
“The part that I enjoy most about teaching our future officers is preparing them to go out and lead airmen who are looking to them for guidance and direction,” Maldonado said. “This job is extremely important and I have to make sure that they are prepared to lead the minute they leave our program.”
Like Vogan, Maldonado also had a stint in the ROTC. She was a part of the Junior ROTC for three years in high school before joining the U.S. Air Force in 2004.
Since then, she has served all over the world, including as an aircrew life support journeyman at Aviano Air Base in Italy; and later as an aircrew life support craftsman at Osan Air Base in South Korea. She later served in aircrew flight equipment, working up the ranks from airman first class to technical sergeant and achieving the job level specialties from craftsman to quality assurance manager, serving in Germany and New Jersey.
Maldonado was also deployed for three tours in Iraq, one tour in Afghanistan and one tour in Kuwait. In addition, she served as a budget analyst for both the United States Cyber Command in Fort Mead, Maryland and at Headquarters Air Combat Command Financial Management at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
Wanting to expand her leadership opportunities and mentor others is what led to Maldonado enrolling in the U.S. Air Force’s Officer Training School – a nine-week program that prepares airmen to lead the next generation. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 2013 at Maxwell Air Force Base and now, 10 years later, has taken her leadership skills to Fresno State.
“Teaching in the ROTC has allowed me to experience something different within the Air Force, while also giving me the opportunity to mentor and inspire those coming after me,” Maldonado said. “I always remind our cadets that they are joining the world’s greatest Air Force and that they are the future. When they leave us they are going to join the active duty forces and serve our great country, and I have to make sure that they are ready.”
