SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, ILL. (USTCNS) - At her retirement ceremony last month after 30 years of service, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Nancy Gucwa let members of her unit in on her plans. She will devote her life as a Catholic nun with the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
For the last couple of years, she has been serving her country while serving her faith as a novice at the order's monastery in Clyde, Mo.
"Some of you have heard that I have been living in a monastery for the last two years," said Gucwa, as she bid farewell to her fellow members of the United States Transportation Command's Joint Transportation Reserve Unit July 12, at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
"Trust me," she continued, "I am as shocked as you are."
Gucwa, a 1980 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - the first class to graduate women - had never contemplated a religious life growing up.
Neither did she consider a military career. As a young woman her role models included keyboardist Keith Emerson (of the rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer), tennis player Arthur Ashe and marathon runner Allison Roe.
Yet in her senior year of high school in Staten Island, N.Y., she heard West Point would be accepting women. Although she had college plans in place, Gucwa was intrigued by how West Point was described; a place to develop leaders and a place to challenge oneself.
"Although I had not considered a military career until then," Gucwa said, "the idea of challenge and leadership development appealed to me, so I applied and was accepted as part of the first female class."
About her West Point experience Gucwa said, "What struck me the most were those very good leaders who led by their own example, and really cared about the people entrusted to them. They inspired great loyalty and morale in their soldiers through their wisdom, professionalism, and genuine concern."
Out of the 119 women who started that historic Class of 1980, 62 graduated, including Gucwa. She says they are all still close, stay in touch, and get together every five years for reunions.
Commissioned as a quartermaster officer, Gucwa spent the next seven years in various active duty assignments; first with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C., and later with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany.
In 1987 Gucwa transferred to the Army Reserve and devoted herself to her civilian career, eventually becoming a vice president with General American Life Insurance Company in St. Louis, Mo.
She left the active reserve in 1996, but missed the camaraderie of military life. So in May 2003, Gucwa joined the Army Reserve Element of USTRANSCOM's Joint Transportation Reserve Unit and was soon recalled to active duty at USTRANSCOM for 14 months in support of the Global War on Terror.
It was while she was mobilized at USTRANSCOM, managing the flow of troops, equipment and supplies for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, that she first began considering a life far removed from war and conflict; a religious life.
According to Gucwa, in this age when individuals switch careers mid-life, many now enter religious life well into their 30s, 40s and beyond.
"After much prayer and participating in several retreats," Gucwa said, "I decided to look at different [religious] communities. I was referred to the Benedictine Sisters in Clyde, Mo., and after a long admission process - they let me in!"
So for the last two years, once a month she traveled from the world of the monastery to the military for reserve duty and back.
"Now I stand here for one last moment," she tearfully told her USTRANSCOM comrades, "with a foot planted in each world - and I am filled with gratitude for all that has been."
During her retirement ceremony, Gucwa was presented with the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for her accomplishments at USTRANSCOM.
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