U N I T E D S T A T E S A I R F O R C E
CAPTAIN WHITNEY E. O’CONNELL
Captain Whitney E. O’Connell is the Recruiting Flight Commander, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 475 at the University of New Hampshire. Captain O’Connell was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and commissioned into the Air Force after graduating from the ROTC program at Louisiana State University in 2010.
Captain O’Connell is a Behavioral Scientist. She spent her first four years in the military as a Human Factors Engineer at Edwards AFB, where she conducted developmental flight test on the B-1 and the F-35. In 2014, Captain O’Connell graduated from the Army’s Psychological Operations Qualification Course, and subsequently spent two years serving as a subject matter expert to the Army’s Psychological Operations Regiment at Fort Bragg, NC. Captain O’Connell deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2015 and in 2016 in support of Army Special Operations Forces (SOF). She has also spent time in Central America in support of the SOF elements deployed to that region.
EDUCATION
2010 Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
2010 Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Criminology concentration, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
2010 Fundamentals of Acquisition Management Course, Defense Acquisition University, Kettering, Ohio
2011 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
2012 Master Resilience Trainer Course, Fort Dix, New Jersey
2013 Master Resilience Facilitator Training Course, Fort Dix, New Jersey
2014 Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Track, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, California
2016 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
ASSIGNMENTS
1. November 2010 – June 2014, F-35 Human Factors Engineer
2. July 2014 – May 2016, Special Warfare Behavioral Scientist
3. June 2016 – Present, Recruiting Flight Commander, AFROTC Northeast Region, Detachment 475, University of New Hampshire
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one service star
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border with one oak leaf cluster
AF Longevity Service Ribbon
AF Training Ribbon
NATO Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant 18 August 2010
First Lieutenant 18 August 2012
Captain 18 August 2014
(Current as of June 2016)