Dean named grand marshal for Nov. 5 Veterans Parade | Local News
Roberta Dean, retired United States Air Force colonel, has been selected as the 2022 Veterans Day Parade grand marshal.
Dean grew up in Oregon surrounded by family and friends with military backgrounds. This military influence prompted her to be enlisted in the Air Force in late 1975. Dean completed basic training and her career with the Air Force began. She became a helicopter flight engineer and soon applied to and was accepted into the Officer Candidate School program.
Off to college Dean went with Uncle Sam paying the way. She studied hard, made good grades and graduated with her bachelor’s degree. Although the USAF footed the bill for her education, Dean’s degree did not come without a personal price. In exchange for a world-class education, Dean agreed to give the United States Air Force at least ten years of dedicated service. Because of her prior enlisted service, she was promoted to first lieutenant upon graduation from OCS.
Being an adventurous soul and being that she What in the Air Force, it was only logical that she learn to fly. Flight training was accomplished at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.
It was here that Dean was introduced to the Air Force T-37 jet training aircraft. She loved that aircraft; it was quick, it was nimble and it got the adrenaline pumping.
Once she mastered flying the T-37, she was given the opportunity to train in the T-38. What a difference! She liked it to stepping out of a Ford Model A and into a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. Dean found a new love; not just in the aircraft she was flying, but the art of flying, period.
With flight training completed, it was off to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and a squadron of F-16 fighter jets. When you have a “need for speed,” the F-16 certainly fills the bill. Dean was promoted to mMajor during her time as a F-16 pilot and it appeared that she would retire at that rank. To Dean, this would just not do. A change in career path was in order, so she decided to cross train to helicopters.
Helicopters may not have the speed that jet aircraft have, but that doesn’t mean that they are not just as much fun to fly. Dean learned to fly the UH-1N Huey helicopter, the USAF MH-53, and then the HH-60. The HH-60 is well known as the “Black Hawk” helicopter, but the Air Force designation is referred to as the “Pave Hawk.”
Dean flew missions during Operation Desert Storm, made deployments to Iraq and numerous deployments to Afghanistan. Some operations that Dean flew are still classified.
Dean was eventually promoted to full colonel and assumed command of a detachment of Pave Hawk helicopters. Dean was injured during a helicopter crash in Afghanistan and spent the rest of her career having to “fly” a desk. She retired from the United States Air Force in 2005 after nearly 30 years of honorable, dedicated service to her country.
After retirement, Dean worked for several years in Arizona on flying drug interdiction missions. She has traveled extensively to numerous countries throughout the world and criss-crossed the United States. She now calls Crossville home and couldn’t be happier.
Dean remains active in the community and with veteran groups. She enjoys talking with youth groups and relaying her experiences in the Air Force. As their newly elected president, in what little spare time she has, she can be found talking with anyone who will listen at the Model Railroad Exhibit located at the Crossville Outlet Mall. Stop in and say hello. You will be glad that you did.
The Crossville Veterans Day Parade is set for Saturday, Nov. 5, beginning at 10 am The community is invited to share in the celebration by lining the streets from Cumberland County High School to the Crossville Main St. Church of Christ.
Afterward, veterans are invited to a free spaghetti lunch at Crossville First Baptist Church, 712 S. Main St., sponsored by Re/Max Finest of Crossville with salads provided by DaBell Family Farms and desserts from Van Dyke Mortgage. Please RSVP at finest-crossville-tn.remax.com. Lunch will be served from noon-2 pm