Beaufort’s Carley Willing, 41, joined the U.S. Air Force in Leesville, S.C., in 2003. After Basic Training at Lackland AFB, Texas, she trained at Shepherd AFB, Texas as a dental assistant. Her first assignment was in the dental clinic at Offutt AFB, Neb. Her follow-on assignment was in the clinic at Pope AFB near Fort Bragg, N.C. Thereafter she served in the dental clinics at Moody AFB, Ga., and McConnell AFB, Wichita, Kan., from which she separated in 2014 with 10 years of service.
While at McConnell AFB, she made deployments as part of Decontamination teams. Following separation, she continued to work at the dental clinic at McConnell AFB servicing active duty members before transferring to the VA dental clinic in Tulsa, Okla. She moved to Beaufort in 2021 and worked as a dental assistant at Marshland Family Dentistry. Today she works at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket on Ribaut Road.
Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207. For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.