Wonder Woman of the Week: Susan Pangelinan
- Nov 3, 2021
- 2 min read
The Wonder Woman this week is a military veteran and officer whose work national service continues to save lives- both physically and mentally. Susan Pangelinan was born in Guam in 1961 on the US airbase there. Pangelinan grew up with a military family and continued her family's legacy by joining the United States Air Force in time to serve in Operation Desert Storm- a war which would see a US-led coalition of nations defend Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion before launching a counter-attack into Iraq that would end the country's attempt at annexing Kuwait. After Desert Storm, Pangelinan remained in the Air Force and became a pivotal leader in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Pangelinan helped coordinate rescue operations in New York City as a leading Pentagon official from both Washington DC and New York City.
After 11 September and its immediate aftermath, Susan Pangelinan briefly served with the Air Force medical personnel before retiring to the California National Guard. Retirement wasn't ready for Pangelinan however as- in 2008- wildfires in California became so bad that the California National Guard had to step in to assist local forest fire response teams. Pangelinan took over logistical leadership by coordinating national guard responders, assessing medical equipment, and cataloguing wildfire-derived injuries across the state. The Department of Defense later awarded Pangelinan for her work during the natural disaster. In 2014, Pangelinan switched titles again to begin working on assessing and improving mental health support for service members in the California National Guard and helping them transition back into civilian life. Pangelinan's work became crucial to helping military veterans resume normal lives away from conflict and to establish life-saving mental health support networks for California's military veterans.
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