FERRISBURGH — Lt. Col. Laura Caputo of the Vermont Air National Guard spoke at the April 9 meeting of the Seth Warner – Rhoda Farrand Chapter of the DAR at the Assembly of God Christian Center in Ferrisburgh. Caputo’s current role is with the Air Guard’s Community Outreach program.
 Caputo gave a short history of the Green Mountain Boys, spoke of the Air Guard’s missions after 9/11 and during Tropical Storm Irene, and talked about some of the “everyday heroes” of the Guard. The goal of the Community Outreach program is to educate Vermonters about the Air Guard and to dispel any misconceptions about what they do.
Caputo has been in the Air Force for 23 years. She commissioned as an officer in 1992 after attending the University of Illinois on a 4-year ROTC scholarship. Following the completion of her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, she attended Air Force pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. She spent the next 15 years travelling the world and flying T-37, KC-10 and C-21 aircraft in support of multiple worldwide operations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
In 2008 Caputo re-trained into a new career field as an intelligence officer. She currently serves as the senior intelligence officer for the 158th Operations Support Squadron, and as part of the Fighter Wing’s Community Outreach Team. This is a fairly new program and Caputo is one of the first community outreach officers.
Joy Minns, regent of the Seth Warner – Rhoda Farrand Chapter, presented Caputo with an award certificate for Outstanding Service to Our Community and to Our Nation.