Academy graduate posthumously honored for intel contributions

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A 2006 Academy graduate was posthumously awarded a National Intelligence Medal for Valor for her efforts to teach Afghan military officials how to gather and interpret military intelligence Jan. 22 here.

First Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte died May, 20, 2009, in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb struck her vehicle en route to an intelligence meeting at Bagram Airfield.

Lieutenant Schulte is the first woman to receive the Medal for Valor, a tribute to heroism in connection with an intelligence community contribution to national security. Her parents, Robert and Susie Schulte, and her brother, Todd Schulte, attended the event on her behalf.

Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence, made the announcement at a quarterly National Intelligence Community Awards Ceremony, where he recognized 42 other teams and individuals for outstanding accomplishments in the intelligence community.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees 16 federal organizations that make up the U.S. intelligence community.

In only three months of duty in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Schulte "made a far-reaching impact on how intelligence was taught and shared with the Afghan National Army," Mr. Blair said. She was "wise beyond her 25 years, and respected as a leader by all those around her -- from general to Airman to Afghan tribal leader -- regardless of the branch of service, regardless of nationality."

Lieutenant Schulte was an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations officer assigned to the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. She deployed to Afghanistan in February 2009, serving the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.

In addition to her teaching duties, Lieutenant Schulte was the command's foreign disclosure officer, working to enhance information sharing with Afghan forces. She was often required to travel outside of her main base at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, to more remote parts of the region. She accepted the known risks of traveling across the region, yet was focused on the goal of helping the Afghan military to achieve self-sufficiency.

"She wanted to be some place where the action was," her father said.

Originally from the St. Louis area, she was first female Academy graduate killed while supporting operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

"She was very vibrant, happy, gung-ho, mission-focused," said Anthony Pascuma, the chief of foreign disclosure for U.S. Central Command and who nominated Lieutenant Schulte for the award. "She was 150 percent committed to the mission ... and wanted to do her part to support operations and combat the war on terrorism."

Lieutenant Schulte also spent three hours nearly every day organizing a charity for Afghan refugees. At Camp Pawan, a U.S. training facility in Afghanistan, a building has been named the Schulte School and Clinic in her honor.