Sharon Reinke recalls her 40 years of service to our country as an active duty Navy and Navy Reserve officer. On her first assignment, as a ground officer, she “did everything that didn’t fly.” Her primary duty was working the personnel issues for the squadron, but she was also involved with educational services and public affairs as a communications officer. She remembers being allowed to fly in the backseat with pilots who needed flight time in the fighter jets. They would drop her off in Chicago for the weekend to see her mom and brothers, and then pick her up on Sunday and just go on back to the squadron. “And I'd spent some time flying with the guys at night when they were doing training for refueling and that sort of thing. … And I did some back seat dogfights.” She fondly remembers going “supersonic in an F-9 Cougar, which is absolutely unbelievable. But it was great fun.”