From Flute to Formation: How One Stony Brook Veteran Found Her Rhythm in Service

Pamela Pfeil, Stony Brook University's associate director of Military and Veterans Affairs, didn't always think she would serve her country. In fact, she was already planning for career in music and music education, thinking that she would be teaching the next generation of children to love the subject.

However, one September morning in her junior year of high school changed her path, the way it changed the paths of so many Americans. And Pfeil noted that she felt a deep calling to find a way to help.

"I was 16 and already looking at music colleges," she remembers. "Then 9/11 happened. One of my closest friends lost her dad, a firefighter. It really made me ask, 'what can I do?'"

A chance encounter at a college fair changed everything. Wandering through a sea of brochures and recruiters, she came across the Army National Guard Band, the 42nd Infantry Division Band. For the first time, she saw a path where she could pursue both her dreams - to teach and to serve. "It felt like the perfect fit," she says. "I could use my talent as a musician and still serve my country."

The week of her 17th birthday, with parental consent, she enlisted. At just 19, she deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, during the early years of Operation Iraqi Freedom. "I turned 20 there," she says. "When I came home, I couldn't even get into a bar - I was still underage. I didn't feel like I had anything in common with anyone my age. I'd lived a whole different life."

The return home was harder than she ever imagined. Without the built-in support of an active-duty base, she struggled to readjust as a National Guard member. It wasn't until she found support through Stony Brook University that she began to rebuild. "I found people who helped me through it," she says. "That experience is what drives me now - to be that support for others."

When she started in the Office of Veterans Affairs, the focus was mostly on managing benefits and GI Bill paperwork. Her arrival helped shift that vision, from bureaucracy to belonging. "I wanted to create something holistic - not just helping with forms, but helping people find their place," she says.

Under her leadership, the university opened the Military-Connected Student Lounge, giving veterans a physical and emotional home on campus. It's complete with lockers, study spaces, a kitchen, and - perhaps most importantly - a community. "Our students have a place now. They have a sense of belonging," she says. "They can meet other people like them, people who get it."

She also helped launch mentorship programs like Vets-for-Vets, connecting incoming students with peers who have already made the transition, and a liaison program linking student veterans to key staff and faculty across campus. "Our students don't just have an advisor," she says. "They have 'Dan', they have 'Pamela.' They know real people who know them back."

And somehow, between supporting hundreds of student veterans and managing programs, she's found her way back to her first love: music. As the interim director of the Stony Brook Marching Band, she's once again helping students find joy and connection through sound.

"I was one of the founding members of the band after coming back from Iraq," she says. "Now I get to lead it. Most of our students aren't music majors - they just love playing. That's what I love most - seeing that spark."

Through every chapter - soldier, student, mentor, musician - she's found purpose in service and connection. "For me, it's about making sure no one has to go through that transition alone," she says. "If I can help someone find their rhythm again - that's what it's all about."

- Emily Cappiello