King Highlights Biddeford Resident, Former Air Force Bomber Pilot in New Episode of ‘Answering the Call’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs (SVAC) and Armed Services Committees (SASC), released his latest episode of "Answering the Call: Maine's Veteran Voices." In the series, produced in partnership with the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project, Senator King spoke with U.S. Air Force pilot Colonel Jen Fullmer of Biddeford, Maine.

Fullmer served at various military posts around Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and flew 90 combat missions while serving on active duty. During the interview, King asked about Fullmer's commitment to service and how she continues to provide for veterans in the community after her retirement from the service.

"Jen Fullmer was one of the millions of Americans who has selflessly served our country, putting herself in harm's way to protect Americans - and American interests - at home and abroad," said Senator King. "However, her commitment to service and community extends far beyond the Air Force and her combat missions. Since moving to Maine, she has worked diligently to help Maine's veterans transition to civilian life. Even more nobly, she spent countless hours helping to evacuate an Afghan national and his family, eventually resettling in Maine, who was at great risk after the United States pulled out of Afghanistan. Jen Fullmer is the very best of America and I am glad we can now preserve her story in the Library of Congress for posterity."

Jen Fullmer grew up in Wilton, Connecticut before enrolling at the University of Connecticut. While studying at UConn, Fullmer made friends with a Marine who served in Beirut. She was inspired by the camaraderie he had with his fellow Marines. This inspired her to apply - and being accepted - into a summer Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Vandenberg AFB in California. After completing the program and going back to Connecticut, she took a gap year and worked at the Connecticut State Capital.

Following her year at the Connecticut State House, Fullmer enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado where she was an ROTC cadet with the goal of becoming a pilot. Fullmer received her pilot slot during her junior year in ROTC and she graduated and got commissioned in 1991. However, in 1991 the Air Force having an abundance of pilots and Fullmer was redirected to personnel work at Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas, while she waited to be called for pilot training. She served as a personnel officer for three years and it was during this time the Air Force announced women would be eligible to fly combat missions. During this time, she met her future husband who was also a servicemember.

After getting a date for pilot training, Fullmer was sent to Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas, where she learned to fly T-37s and T-38s, which prepared her to fly bomber and fighter aircraft. After completing pilot training, Fullmer was stationed at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, where she learned to fly the B-1 and six months later she arrived at her first operational B-1 squadron at Mountain Home AFB near Boise, Idaho.

Fullmer, now with a few hundred flight hours in the B-1, went on to be accepted to Air Force Weapons School at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota. She graduated from Weapons School in December of 2000, and after the September 11, 2001, attacks, was deployed to Diego Garcia before returning to Randolph AFB when she was called to serve as an aide to a 4-star General. She then attended the Naval War College, returned to flying, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, two years ahead of schedule. She was deployed several times and then took command of the 9^th Bomb Squadron at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, in January of 2008. In that role, she once again was deployed to Qatar and resumed flight operations in Afghanistan.

After that assignment, she served as the Deputy Operations Commander and then attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama, where she was promoted to Colonel. Fullmer then became Chief of Staff at the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), based in Key West, Florida, where she worked on countering illicit drug trafficking. Her next duty station would be at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar where she served as Vice Wing Commander form 2013 - 2014. She officially retired in 2015. Notably, during her career, Fullmer flew 90 combat missions over Afghanistan and Iraq, working to defend freedoms at home and abroad.

Fullmer and her husband retired in Biddeford, Maine, after stumbling upon a house during a vacation. In retirement, she built and was the founding executive director of Boots2Roots, a Maine-based nonprofit organization that helps members of the active duty military transition back to civilian life in Maine - she served as the organization's executive director until 2020 and board chair until 2022. In the summer of 2021, Fullmer received word from her colleague from the Afghan Air Force she had met while at Air War College in Alabama that he and his family needed help leaving his home country because of safety concerns. Through a couple of veteran friends and a critical connection through the War College - Fullmer was able to lead efforts to help her friend and 10 of his family members safely leave Afghanistan and resettle in Maine. Today, Fullmer continues to be an active member of the Biddeford community, volunteering her time with her church and organizations that serve the local addicted and unhoused neighbors.

The Veterans History Project is an effort by the Library of Congress to collect, preserve and distribute the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. The interviews and primary documents from the project are then used by researchers, historians, students, and filmmakers across the country. Senator King joins many other members of Congress who've participated in the project, and was honored by the then-Librarian of Congress on Veterans Day 2022 when she participated in a one-on-one interview with him to talk through his Maine conversations.

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America's servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation to help reduce suicides among veterans by providing free secure firearm storage to veterans. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families. Senator King has also introduced bipartisan legislation to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare.

Earlier this year, he cosponsored the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act that would provide more combat-injured veterans with their full earned benefits. He also joined Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, in introducing bipartisan legislation to permanently authorize a program that would expand access to veteran disability claims exams. Most recently, Senator King teamed up with Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) to introduce a bipartisan bill that would make the veterans' benefit claims process more streamlined and fair.

You can watch previous episodes of "Answering the Call: Maine's Veteran Voices" here.

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