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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the
3 members of the Illinois House of Representatives and the
4 Illinois Senate are pleased to welcome Vernice Armour as she
5 speaks in honor of Women's History Month; and
 
6     WHEREAS, She was born in Chicago in 1973 and grew up in
7 Memphis, Tennessee; in 1991, she graduated from John Overton
8 High School for Creative and Performing Arts, where she was
9 very active in the music program, class Vice President, and a
10 member of Mu Alpha Theta (the mathematics honor society) and
11 The National Honor Society; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Vernice marched in the military boot steps of both
13 her dad, Clarence Jackson, a former Marine, who married
14 Vernice's mother, Authurine, and her father, Gaston C. Armour
15 Jr. of Chicago, a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserves; in
16 1993, the future combat pilot enlisted in the Army Reserves and
17 a few months later joined the Army ROTC program while enrolled
18 at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU); during an Army
19 ROTC career day, the seed of becoming a pilot was planted when
20 Vernice saw the image of a young black female in an Army flight
21 suit; "Now why didn't I think of that," was her first thought;
22 from this experience, Vernice knows the power of an "image" and
23 a positive role model; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, In June of 1996, after a brief stint as a
2 Nashville Sheriff's Department Correction Officer, Vernice
3 took additional time off from college to accept an invitation
4 to the Nashville Police Academy and graduated as a police
5 officer in December 1996; Vernice was the second woman and
6 first African American woman on the Nashville Police
7 Department's motorcycle squad; and
 
8     WHEREAS, She graduated from MTSU in December of 1997 with
9 her B.S. in Physical Education: Emphasis in Exercise Science;
10 in 1998 Vernice was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the
11 Marine Corps on December 12, 1998 and on her way to flight
12 school; and
 
13     WHEREAS, When Vernice earned her wings in July 2001, the
14 ambitious pilot ranked No. 1 out her class of 12 and of the
15 last 200 to graduate from flight school; as the top graduate,
16 she made the Naval Air Station's prestigious Commodore's List,
17 received the Academic Achievement Award, and subsequently made
18 history as the Marine Corps' first African-American female
19 pilot; and
 
20     WHEREAS, After flight school, Vernice was stationed at
21 Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California,
22 and honed her skills piloting the famed AH-1 W Super Cobra; she

 

 

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1 was named Camp Pendleton's 2001 Female Athlete of the Year,
2 two-time titleholder in Camp Pendleton's annual Strongest
3 Warrior Competition, and was a running back for the San Diego
4 Sunfire women's professional football team; and
 
5     WHEREAS, One of the few and the proud, during the start of
6 the war in March 2003, United States Marine Corps captain
7 Armour was one of 1,500 female Marines in the Persian Gulf
8 fighting to dismantle the regime of Saddam Hussein in Operation
9 Iraqi Freedom; during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Vernice flew
10 above the deserts of Iraq in her missile-equipped attack
11 helicopter, engaging the enemy and scouting the roads from her
12 cockpit, making sure they were safe for her fellow Marines and
13 soldiers on the ground; she has completed 2 combat tours of
14 duty in the Gulf; and
 
15     WHEREAS, With her departure out of the Marine Corps in June
16 2007, Vernice continues to pursue her passions as an author,
17 professional speaker, and trainer; addressing professional
18 organizations, businesses, and schools, she emphasizes
19 leadership, pursuing your passion in life, education, and
20 taking positive steps to reach goals; therefore, be it
 
21     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
23 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we congratulate Vernice Armour

 

 

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1 for her many accomplishments and thank her for speaking to the
2 Illinois House of Representatives; and be it further
 
3     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4 presented to Vernice Armour as a symbol of our respect and
5 esteem.