EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska. -- A select few individuals are chosen every year from the enlisted Air Force to join the Officer Corps.
Tech. Sgt. Dorothy Knox, 354th Fighter Wing Airman Leadership School instructor, is one of the select few to be promoted from E-7 to O-2.
Her journey started from a recruiter who kept hitting roadblock after roadblock, the recruiter was eventually moved from the position and she sped through the recruitment process with another local recruitment team.
With her Bachelor’s Degree in psychology, she intended to become an officer out of the gate, wanting to be in the mental health career field, but she was recruited into the enlisted side. She recalls not understanding the difference between an enlisted and officer recruitment process but takes it as a blessing in disguise.
“I’m grateful that I came in being enlisted because the people I have met and the stories from these young Airmen have made me so much more capable to be a better officer,” Knox said. “I needed this experience and it prepared me for exactly what I want to do, [helping my peers].”
Her journey began early in life, with parents who always wanted Knox to get better every day in any way she could.
Knox remembers her dad always saying, “You’re not in competition with anybody but the person you were yesterday,” and she says that is a quote she continues to live by today.
“I live by moving forward every day… If you aren’t growing and impacting those around you positively every day then that is a failure to me,” Knox said.
While she goes to meetings for numerous programs or in between ALS classes, she is speaking with leadership and Airmen alike, giving or receiving advice on how to help the Air Force or her community.
Her family continues to keep her busy life grounded and ready to mold the minds of young Airmen every day.
“My passion has always been helping others, it has always been my passion–even to my own detriment sometimes, and that’s where my other half comes in,” Knox said. “[My husband], he is amazing at reminding me that in order to take care of others I have to take care of myself.”
While Knox continues to teach at ALS, she and her family are preparing for their next journey forward, onto becoming a front line leader of the U.S. Air Force as an officer.