341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
4/11/2014 - MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- Editor's note: This is part one of a series highlighting Airmen transitioning to the officer corps
"I missed it from the day I separated," she said.
Raised in Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., it was only a matter of time before she accepted that Air Force blue was destined to run deep in her veins.
"I tried to rebel from what my father did but I realized my blood was just too blue."
Today, nestled in the Malmstrom Air Force Base Mental Health Office, 1st Lt. Morgan McNabb, 341st Medical Operations Squadron social worker, can be found in counseling sessions with active-duty Airmen. New to the office, McNabb has been at Malmstrom for nearly two months. This is her first duty station as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, but it isn't her first time serving her country as an Airman.
"I was 19 years old when I enlisted in the Air Force back in 2001," McNabb said. "I was a laboratory technician then. I completed four years and then I was out - with the intent that I was going to enlist, get some experience and go back to school to commission in as an officer."
More than 12 years later - between earning two master's degrees, getting married, becoming a dependent and becoming a Department of Defense civilian - McNabb's calling to serve her country has come full circle.
"I think everyone's path in life is exactly the way it's supposed to be," she said. "For me, it was kind of curvy because I went to school longer than most people. But I think the route I took helped me get here and I would do everything exactly the same. I learned a lot about myself along the way; about what assets I have to bring to the Air Force. I've been there - as a civilian, a spouse and enlisted member - so I can combine all of those experiences."
After completing her original four-year enlistment in the Air Force, McNabb separated with her Community College of the Air Force Degree - assumingly a successful accomplishment to enter the civilian workforce with.
"As soon as I got out, I had a hard time finding a job, which was surprising because I thought the Air Force put so much time teaching and training me as a laboratory technician that I could easily get a job," she said. "Eventually I was lucky enough to get a job in California. But I was shocked at how much I missed the Air Force. I had a hard time with the lack of structure when I started working in the civilian sector."
From 2005 to 2012 the uphill battle began for McNabb to once again wear the Air Force uniform.
"I knew I wanted to be back in uniform, I just didn't know what capacity," she said. "Originally I was going to go the doctor route. But I figured out that wasn't appropriate for me - I liked working with people on a continuing basis. After I completed an undergrad in psychology, I finished a master's in psychology with an emphasis on counseling. I planned to get a doctorate in psychology and come back in the Air Force - but then I met my husband who's an active-duty Airman."
McNabb then followed her husband to Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, and earned a spot in the mental health office as a general schedule civilian. With the support of a friend and mentor, it was then that McNabb's journey to become an officer was finally tangible.
"My friend, Major Erica Best, asked me what I wanted to do with my psychology degree and she mentioned social work," she said. "I had no idea what a social worker did in the Air Force. Then I had the opportunity to talk to her about her job and got to meet other social workers and see what they were doing. I think that was very important for me because I think many careers can be different in the civilian world than in the military.
"I realized [being a social worker] was what I wanted to do," she said. "So in 2011, I applied for the Health Professions Scholarship Program. Even though I had a master's degree in psychology with counseling emphasis, I needed a separate master's degree in social work in order to be an Air Force social worker. While I was finishing up my last semester of my first master's, I was applying to go back to school to earn a second master's."
McNabb said the only thing she would have done differently is pursue commissioning as a junior enlisted Airman and completing the right master's degree.
"I really took advantage of the resources that were out there and put it to good use, such as maxing out the Montgomery GI Bill and applying for grants," she said. "But I wish that I would have made more of an effort to talk to people who were already in those career fields in the Air Force. When I was thinking I wanted to be a doctor, I wish I had spent time with doctors and had the chance to job shadow and get their perspective. Sometimes I think we have an idea of what we think we want, when it may really be completely different."
McNabb says she appreciates her enlisted corps roots for all the lessons she learned.
"It's very different to be an officer," she said. "The mindset to approach things is different because I am here to help improve and listen to the opinions and feedback from the enlisted corps. Being enlisted before has helped me to never forget the attributes they have and remember that I was in their shoes."
For those interested in pursuing the officer route as enlisted Airmen, McNabb suggests seeking out those who made the transition themselves and learning more about the process.
"If becoming an officer is something anyone is interested in even a little, I would suggest at least looking into it," she said. "I don't believe in never opening a door that could lead to something different for you."
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