Senior Master Sgt. Teri Baty, Superintendent, Retirements and Separations, Directorate of Personnel Program Management

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ARPC Spotlight --  Senior Master Sgt. Teri Baty, Superintendent, Retirements and Separations, Directorate of Personnel Program Management, is the ARPC Spotlight of the week.

Sergeant Baty is from Cushing, Okla. She began her Air Force career in 1977 as a Romanian linguist at the National Security Agency. 

She has also served as a personnelist, recruiter, personnel instructor, military training leader and training manager. She has been stationed at the Pentagon; Andrews Air Force Base, Md.; Keesler AFB, Miss.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Virginia Beach, Va.; and the National Guard Bureau.

She said her evenings are occupied as a full-time student while she pursues a bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management. She is also an avid reader and enjoys bowling. 

What is your most memorable Air Force experience?

Six months in Iraq with the 203rd RED HORSE Squadron assigned to an Army mission at Camp Speicher. I was able to travel to all our locations -- Balad, Al Asad, Al Udeid -- as the senior personnelist. I gained a tremendous appreciation for the liberties, freedoms and blessings we enjoy in the United States.

Why did you join the Air Force?

I was from a small town and after working a couple of years out of high school, decided there was a whole world out there to explore. My dad was a Marine, a survivor of the Chosin Reservoir, and raised us like we were privates and corporals. The structure and rules were familiar to me. 

If you were not in the military, where would you be?

The Air Force truly is a way of life and a large family. After almost 10 years of service, I had a 13-year break, then returned eight years ago. I don't really want to be somewhere else, at least not until retirement.

What would you like to do when you retire?

Nothing. I would love to buy a house on the Florida panhandle and listen to the surf all day, but I will probably end up in Kansas with my children and grandsons. I will have my master's degree by then, and would like to teach part-time at a community college.