1ST Battalion 145TH Field Artillery s4

News Release ______

Utah National Guard, 12953 S. Minuteman Drive, Draper, UT 84020-1776, (801) 432-4407

25 November 2008 Contact: Lt. Col. Hank McIntire, (801) 420-4778 Release 08-059

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Former Beecher Resident Promoted in the Utah Air National Guard

DRAPER, Utah — A Homewood-Flossmoor native and former Beecher resident, Capt. Karen L. Nuccitelli, of the Utah Air National Guard, was promoted to major in a ceremony Nov. 12 here at the Utah National Guard headquarters.

Nuccitelli, an 18-year veteran of the military, currently resides in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and serves as director of the Utah National Guard’s State Partnership Program, which oversees the Utah Guard’s military-training and information exchange with the African nation of Morocco.

At the ceremony her husband, Lt. Col. Kevin Nuccitelli, commander of the Utah National Guard’s 85th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, and her father-in-law, Vince Nuccitelli, a retired Air Force fighter pilot, pinned the rank on the new major’s uniform.

“Thank you for all the love and support through the years,” Nuccitelli told her parents who were present via telephone from Beecher. “I could not have gotten through it without you.”

“I have my dream job,” said Nuccitelli after the pinning ceremony. “I love serving my country, and we are very fortunate to be able to do what we do.”

During her military career Nuccitelli has deployed overseas in support of Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. She has served with the active-duty Air Force, Vermont Air National Guard and Utah Air National Guard in a variety of positions to include commander, executive officer, crisis-action team member, and most recently, deputy public affairs officer and protocol chief.

Nuccitelli holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and received a master’s degree from Norwich University.

Her parents, Walter and Joan McElligott, reside in Beecher.

For more information, please contact Lt. Col. Hank McIntire at (801) 420-4778. -30-