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Dwyer to serve as guest speaker of Sikeston Veterans Day ceremony
SIKESTON — Lt. Col. Jessica H. Dwyer, commander and professor of aerospace studies for Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 205 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, will serve as the guest speaker of this year’s annual Sikeston Community Veterans Day Ceremony.
Set for 9:15 a.m. Friday at the Sikeston Field House in Sikeston, the service will feature local veterans from the American Legion, VFW and Sikeston Veterans Park Committee will participate in the service. The Sikeston High School band, orchestra and choir will perform. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Sikeston American Legion will host a lunch starting at 11 a.m. at the Post for veterans and their families after the service.
Dwyer leads all training, education, assessment and recruitment of prospective Air Force and Space Force Officers enrolled at SIU as well as students enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University and John A. Logan College.
In 2004, she earned an active duty commission into the United States Air Force as a Distinguished Graduate from the Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Dwyer holds a Master of Science in physics and astronomy from Dartmouth College and a Doctor of Philosphy in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University.
As an Air Force physicist, Dwyer conducted space plasma research, specifically the effects of solar activity and the earth’s radiation belts on terrestrial and low-earth-orbit space assets. She served two instructor tours in the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Department of Physics where she also directed their Center for Physics Education Research.
In 2016, Dwyer deployed to Pristina, Kosovo, in support of Operation JOINT GUARDIAN where she authored strategic plans for Headquarters Kosovo Forces.
Prior to her current assignment, Dwyer directed the Superintendent’s Commander’s Action Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She coordinated General Officer and Direct Reporting Unit actions with the Department of the Air Force, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Office of Secretary of Defense, Capitol Hill, local civic leaders and executive agencies. She also formulated strategic policy while leading the Academy’s Headquarters program integration for high profile projects and events across a 7,000-person installation.