March 2019 Veteran of the Month: Mary Lester
Commissioner Nikki Fried presenting the Veteran of the Month award to Mary Lester (right) on March 12, 2019
Military Service
Retired Florida Army National Guard First Sergeant. Mary also served in the Missouri National Guard.
FDACS Service
Regulatory Specialist with the Division of Consumer Services.
Biography
Retired First Sergeant Mary L. Lester is a native of Tallahassee, Florida. Her 32-year career began on September 27, 1984, when she joined the Florida Army National Guard as a Private, 75-Delta Personnel Records Specialist. She currently works for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) as a Regulatory Specialist I in the Division of Consumer Services.
Mary attended basic training on Tank Hill, Sixth Battalion, Second Basic Training Brigade at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, graduating on September 11, 1985. She returned home to Tallahassee and worked for the state of Florida over 16 years while serving in the 53rd Signal Brigade through 1997. Mary graduated from Lincoln High in Tallahassee in 1985 and earned a bachelor's degree in public relations from the University of Florida in May 1992. She also attended the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland, earning the videography military occupation specialty.
Mary left the signal brigade as a Staff Sergeant and transferred to the 107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment in St. Augustine, Florida. She remained there for over seven years, until August 2005 when she took a full-time position as a Public Affairs Specialist in the Missouri Army National Guard Joint Force Headquarters public affairs office. She retired from federal civil service in May 2017. She also joined the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, where she reached the rank of First Sergeant.
Mary's military career included an overseas combat tour to Afghanistan. Other overseas assignments were: Reforger exercises in Belgium and Germany; Operation Joint Forge, Heidelberg, Germany; Beyond the Horizon, Honduras and Guatemala; and KFOR-10, Kosovo. She also deployed to Washington, D.C., with the 107 MPAD in support of Operation Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom for Operation Tribute to Freedom.
She supported state emergency duty during Hurricane Andrew and in 1998 was on emergency duty when Florida made national headlines for Operation Firestorm. She also served as the public affairs non-commissioned officer in charge for south area command during the year-long Operation Safe Skies and Safe Harbor after 9/11. While in the Missouri Army National Guard she served in a public affairs capacity for state emergencies including support during the Joplin tornado and Ferguson protest/civil unrest.
Mary’s federal awards include: Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal — Second Award, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal — Second Award, Air Force Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal — Eighth Award, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Humanitarian Service Medal, and the NATO Medal.
Mary retired from the military on January 5, 2017. She and her husband William A. Lester reside in Tallahassee and are the proud parents of two adult children, Ashley Lester and Jeanelle Z. James, and grandparents of Aubrielle Smith.
