Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, a true “Buckeye”! She is very proud of this fact, as she is also an alumna of The Ohio State University, College of Nursing. She graduated in 1995 and began her nursing career in March of 1996. Over the past twenty-six years, Janita has served in many areas of nursing and healthcare. One of those areas of nursing included the United State Air Force. Janita joined the Air Force in August 2001 as a single mother with three children and at the time of the Twin Towers and Pentagon attacks on September 11, 2001. Over the next thirteen years, she served at Langley Air Force Base, where she met her husband of 17 years. Larry, is a retired Lt. Col Intelligence Officer from the Air Force. After four years at Langley, she received orders to Ramstein Air Base, Germany where she served as a Flight Nurse. Janita earned one of the highest medals for an Aeromedical Evacuation Crewmember, the Air Medal. She earned this medal as a result of the number of missions flown in and out and over 300 flight hours to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Israel, Kosovo, Germany, France, England, and multiple bases in the United States. After Janita completed her assignment at Ramstein in May 2008, she and her family moved to Cumming, GA. For the next five years she served as a Flight Nurse and as the Officer-in-Charge for the Medical Group’s Immunizations Clinic at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, GA. Janita obtained the rank of Major in 2010 and her Master’s degree in Nursing Education from North Georgia College and State University. In 2013, she went into IRR status with the Air Force Reserves. Janita and her husband joined the VFW Post 9143 in 2014 and then in 2015 selected to be the first “female” Service Officer. In 2016 both Janita and Larry, began participating as one of the Post’s Turkey Shoot volunteers and then two years later Janita and Larry became the Turkey Shoot coordinators & judges. Since that time, they have raised approximately $25,000.00 for the Post. In 2018, Janita was appointed as the Post’s Adjutant and currently remains in this position. In May of 2022, Janita had been nominated and elected Post 9143 Commander and is the Post’s first female Commander in the 75-year history of the Post.