Name: Lindsey Bond
Military Specialty: Maintenance Analyst 
Years of Service: 9
Unit: 158th Fighter Wing
Hometown: Colchester, VT
Current Town: Milton, VT
High School/Graduation Year: 2003
College/Graduation: Vermont Technical College, 2012

Q. Why did you join the Vermont National Guard? 
A. My friend who has been in for over 20 years now had been trying to get me to join for some time. She finally talked me into it when the store I was working for was about to close and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for work. I also really wanted to go back to school so joining the Guard helped me change my career and get my degree.

Q. What do you do in the Vermont National Guard?
A. I am a Maintenance Analyst for our fleet of F-16’s. I track all of the flying and analyze maintenance history to look for trends that could help me predict and prevent future problems. 

Q. What do you do for civilian work?
A. I work in the Guard as a Maintenance Analyst full time. I started working full-time six years ago as an Aircraft Structural Mechanic. I enjoyed working with my hands and getting to work directly with the jets. It taught me a lot that now helps me in my job as an Analyst. 

Q. What do you think is the greatest benefit of being in the National Guard?
A. The greatest benefit has been that it paid for my bachelor’s degree and I still had enough funding to support my husband going back to school. Three years ago, my husband was laid off from his job and we weren’t sure how we were going to afford our mortgage. He always wanted to finish the degree that he started, but his job’s demands prevented him from finishing. It ended up being a great blessing that he lost his job because he is currently going to Vermont Technical College and the G.I. Bill is paying for his tuition and helping with our living expenses. 

Q. How has being a National Guard member benefited you in your local community and job?
A. The Guard has given me a stable full-time job that has allowed me to provide my family with a comfortable home in a nice town.

Q. What is your most memorable military moment?
A. My most memorable moment in the Guard was my incentive flight in an F-16. The experience was indescribable and I will never forget it. The pilot did an unrestricted take-off, which means; when he gets to speed on the run-way and the wheels come off the ground, he hits the speed and shoots straight up in the air, getting to 6+ G’s. Flying in the clouds, felt like I was floating and I could just reach out and touch them. 

Q. How long have you lived in Vermont?
A. I moved from Poughkeepsie, NY when I was 9, I’ve been in Vermont for 24 years.

Q. What is your favorite aspect of living or working where you do?
A. I love Milton because it is a quiet, smaller town, but it is a quick and easy commute to Burlington.

Q. What has surprised you about the Vermont National Guard?
A. It surprises me how proficient a force of weekend traditional Guard members can drop their civilian jobs and lives and go to war in under 30 days and do so with an outstanding outcome. The training and abilities of the Vermont National Guard never stops amazing me.

Q. What is your favorite part about serving in the Vermont National Guard?
A. I love that even though Vermont can feel small sometimes, I can do something that impacts the rest of the country and the world. Deploying overseas has been my proudest moment in the Guard. I feel like I really made a difference.

Q. How many push-ups did you get on your last physical fitness test?
A. I got 55 push-ups in a minute. I pride myself in my physical fitness. One of my hobbies is to weight train. This helps me to score an outstanding on my physical fitness test every year.