Page 84 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2025 - Online Magazine
P. 84
by LaVila Henry
twin towers in New York active duty in the Army and entering
City were under attack, and the field of military intelligence.
soon after, the Pentagon, her
very workplace, was struck. Ruth trained at Fort Huachuca in
Arizona, where she mastered the
It was then Ruth realized workings of military intelligence.
that if not for her surgery, Her specialty took her far from
she would have been inside home, starting with a four-year
the Pentagon that morning. assignment in Germany. From
“Suddenly, it all made there, she served at Fort Campbell,
sense,” she would later Kentucky, where she was called
reflect. “The delayed date to support Desert Storm, and was
of my surgery came solely deployed with the 101 Airborne
st
for my protection. God was Division challenging her resilience
good to me.” under pressure.
Ruth’s military service Over the next several years, Ruth
didn’t follow a traditional continued to answer the call of duty.
timeline. Unlike many While assigned to Fort Hood, TX,
who enlist at a young age, which included serving nearly a
Ruth joined the U.S. Army year at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba,
Reserves in her 30s, a she also contributed to peacekeeping
decision born of necessity efforts in Bosnia. Though she wasn’t
fter many years of service, and courage. A single fond of her time at Fort Hood,
in 2001, Ruth Moreno mother raising two children, she she remained unwavering in her
Afinally received what she struggled to make ends meet and commitment.
considered a dream assignment: sought stability. Encouraged by
a position at the Pentagon in others to consider military service, Later, Ruth moved to Bolling Air
Washington, D.C. But by that point she made the leap, embarking on an Force Base near Washington, D.C.,
she had waited nearly two years for extraordinary path that would lead a transition that brought her to the
a surgical procedure for a non-life- her to touch lives far beyond her epicenter of military operations.
threatening abdominal issue. And hometown of Lubbock, where she Working with the Defense
though the timing of the assignment had grown up. Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon,
seemed unexplainably delayed, that she excelled in her skills and duties.
morning it became clear it had been Her first stop was basic training By then, with years of experience
nothing short of divine intervention. at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, in military intelligence, a top-secret
where she quickly proved her security clearance, and a work ethic
It was September 11, 2001. Ruth abilities for the task. From there, forged through decades of service,
was at home recovering from her she completed technical training in she was proud and excited to begin
long-awaited surgery. Turning on San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston, this chapter of her career. And she
the television, Ruth thought she earning credentials as a lab loved it. It was during that time that
was watching a movie — until the technician. Then in 1985, she took a she experienced the awareness of
terrible truth set in. It was live. The bold step forward, transitioning to God’s protection over her the day He
84 Lubbock Senior Link
