Kathryn Roby
SIOUX CITY
Summary
Civilian: A passionate and seasoned AFJROTC/CTE instructor with diverse experience across various learning environments. Skilled in creating engaging curriculums tailored to individual student needs, fostering inclusive classroom atmospheres that inspire curiosity and learning. Incorporated dynamic project-based learning and team-building real-world exercises. Successfully implemented innovative teaching strategies that improved learner engagement and academic performance. Instructor for Summer Survival School, nearly 100% cadet participation. Skilled at community outreach and community service.
Military: I served my country for 30 years, achieving the highest enlisted rank, which is reserved for the top 1%. Secured the highest position on any Air Force base as Command Chief Master Sergeant; served as the enlisted point of contact for 4,000 personnel. Twenty-three years of experience in senior management and leadership, of which 15 years were in executive management positions. Monitored the actions of more than 10 Squadron Commanders; formally reported problems, issues, and concerns to senior leaders. Recommended solutions and alternative actions to commanders, ensured compliance, and briefed outcomes to the wing commander.
Overview
50
50
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
AFJROTC Senior Instructor (Leadership/Management)
Sioux City Community School District
Sioux City
08.2011 - Current
- Led and managed a comprehensive AFJROTC program of more than 2,000 cadets, fostering discipline, citizenship, and aerospace knowledge since 2011. (2011-2016 Minnesota, 2016-2025 Iowa).
- Instructed high school students in leadership, management, and life skills in accordance with Air Force curriculum standards.
- Supervised all unit operations, including cadet training, budget management, logistics, and community outreach activities.
- Mentored cadets in personal development, college readiness, and military career opportunities.
- Spearheaded cadet leadership development programs, drill competitions, and community service projects, totaling 1,600 volunteer hours annually.
- Coordinated with school administration and community partners to enhance program visibility and support.
- Maintained compliance with AFJROTC and school district policies, ensuring excellence in inspections and annual evaluations.
- Integrated STEM and aviation-related activities to enhance classroom engagement and real-world application of aerospace principles.
- Developed and implemented strategic plans to improve cadet recruitment, retention, and academic performance.
- Fostered a culture of excellence, teamwork, and integrity, leading to multiple unit awards, such as the Distinguished Unit Award and Distinguished Unit with Merit.
CEO/Executive Director
Souris Valley Animal Shelter
Minot
06.2006 - 06.2009
- Provided strategic leadership for all shelter operations, overseeing a team of 25 staff members and 75 volunteers, ensuring high standards of animal care and organizational performance.
- Reduced the monthly budget by $15K per month; the organization was profitable from 2006 to 2009.
- Managed revenues of more than $550K, expenses at $240K, with a profit margin of approximately $300 annually.
- Managed fundraising, grant writing, and donor relations to ensure financial sustainability.
- Cultivated relationships with community partners, local government, and media to enhance the shelter's public profile and mission impact.
- Spearheaded capital improvement projects, including facility renovations and upgrades, to improve animal housing and visitor experience.
- Solicited free technical support from a local business; created 10 new databases; networked computer systems, resulting in 100% customer satisfaction during the adoption and intake processes.
- Launched targeted community outreach programs, increasing adoptions and public engagement by 75% over the tenure.
- Ensured compliance with local, state, and federal animal welfare regulations, and sheltering best practices.
- Recruited, trained, and mentored staff and volunteers, fostering a compassionate and professional workplace culture.
- Built strong employee relationships; reduced turnover rates from 85% to 10% through morale, teambuilding, and open-door initiatives.
- Advocated for humane legislation and animal welfare education initiatives, strengthening the shelter's role as a community leader.
Command Chief Master Sergeant
United States Air Force
Minot
11.2002 - 11.2004
- Served as the senior enlisted advisor to the Wing Commander, representing the interests and welfare of over 4,000 enlisted personnel across 25 units.
- Advised command leadership on all matters affecting morale, readiness, professional development, and quality of life for enlisted Airmen.
- Led force development initiatives, transformed an abandoned building into a state-of-the-art PME (Professional Military Education) Center; the Air Force (AF) recognized it as the "best seen to date."
- Increased PME enrollment rates from 33% to 100%; the best enrollment and completion rates across the AF.
- Oversaw enlisted performance management and promotion processes, ensuring fairness, transparency, and mission-aligned talent development.
- Increased enlisted promotion rates by more than 15% due to hands-on involvement with commanders.
- Championed resilience, diversity, and inclusion programs across the installation, enhancing unit cohesion and operational effectiveness.
- Coordinated with base and community leadership to resolve critical issues affecting Airmen, their families, and the community, including housing, healthcare, and education.
- Secured more than $38K from the Air Force for dormitory improvements, more than 1,000 discrepancies repaired; result: Dormitory of the Month Program; increased morale of dorm residents base-wide.
- Directed installation-wide recognition programs, improving retention and morale by spotlighting outstanding contributions across all ranks.
- Led crisis response communications and recovery efforts during emergency operations (e.g., natural disasters, pandemic responses).
- Facilitated cross-functional collaboration between operations, support, and security forces, aligning enlisted performance with strategic mission priorities.
- Mentored and developed future enlisted leaders through direct engagement, career counseling, and structured leadership programs.
- Directed a housing allowance study; fought the Air Force on low housing allowances; won the battle, and allowances increased by 29% in the first year... a first ever in Air Force history.
Operational Superintendent Flight Line Operations
United States Air Force
Tucson
08.1998 - 11.2002
- Directed and synchronized all flight line maintenance and launch operations for 100 aircraft across 4 Aircraft Maintenance Units, ensuring safe and timely sortie generation.
- Supervised over 1,200 personnel across multiple AFSCs, leading daily flight line activities to support high-tempo operations and contingency taskings.
- Oversaw aircraft generation, launch, recovery, refueling, and weapons loading operations, achieving an 89.5% mission-capable rate, 3% above the highest record ever held.
- Developed and enforced flight line procedures, improving safety compliance and reducing mishaps/incidents by 55%.
- Collaborated with Ops, MOC, QA, and logistics functions to prioritize maintenance actions, align resources, and meet mission objectives.
- Implemented Lean maintenance initiatives that decreased turnaround time and improved sortie generation efficiency by 92%.
- Championed a safety-first culture, leading FOD prevention, risk management, and safety briefings, resulting in 48 months with zero ground incidents.
- Played a key role in pre-deployment aircraft prep and the generation of more than 1,000 sorties per month in support of global contingency operations.
- Led maintenance units to Forward Operating Locations around the world to support military operations in any region.
- Trained and mentored NCOs and junior Airmen, enhancing workforce capability, certification rates, and leadership development.
- Supported multiple inspections (chemical and biological warfare), contributing to an 'Outstanding' unit rating.
Production Superintendent (Aircraft Maintenance)
United States Air Force
Bitburg
11.1986 - 08.1998
- Directed maintenance production for fighter aircraft (F-4, F-15, and A-10) across 15 work centers, within 11 aircraft specialties, ensuring full-spectrum mission readiness and sortie generation.
- Supervised and mentored a team of over 200 maintenance personnel, overseeing all aspects of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, inspections, and repairs.
- Managed daily maintenance operations, achieving and sustaining a 90% fully mission-capable rate under high operational tempo.
- Coordinated with MOC, QA, and logistics support to ensure timely part requisition, aircraft status reporting, and compliance with all technical orders.
- Executed maintenance plans for flying hour programs totaling over 30 sorties per day with zero mishaps or missed missions.
- Implemented process improvements that reduced aircraft downtime by 15% and increased production efficiency across the flight line.
- Ensured strict adherence to safety standards, AFIs, and maintenance protocols, resulting in 12 consecutive months with zero safety violations.
- Played a key role in deployment and contingency operations, successfully preparing and launching ___ aircraft in support of global missions.
- Facilitated professional development and upgrade training for personnel, improving certification rates and team proficiency.
- Led the maintenance team through major inspections (e.g., chemical and biological warfare), contributing to an “outstanding” rating.
Aircraft Electrical Technician
United States Air Force
Elmendorf
11.1975 - 11.1986
- Performed troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance on complex electrical and avionics systems across F-4E, F-15 A/B/C/C/E and A-10 aircraft, ensuring mission-critical reliability.
- Diagnosed and resolved faults in wiring, circuit breakers, power distribution systems, lighting, and flight control electronics with 100% accuracy rate.
- Conducted scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on electrical components, contributing to a 95% aircraft mission capable rate.
- Interpreted and applied wiring diagrams, schematics, and technical orders (TOs) to perform precision repairs and installations.
- Supported aircraft launch and recovery operations, ensuring electrical systems functionality under high-tempo conditions.
- Collaborated with multi-disciplinary maintenance teams to expedite aircraft turnaround and minimize downtime.
- Ensured compliance with all Air Force safety and maintenance protocols, resulting in consecutive months of zero discrepancies.
- Conducted post-maintenance operational checks and inspections to validate system performance and airworthiness.
- Trained and mentored junior technicians on electrical system troubleshooting, tool accountability, and maintenance best practices.
- Played a key role in inspection readiness, contributing to an “Excellent” or “Outstanding” ratings during QA or higher headquarters evaluations.
Education
Master of Science - Management
Minot State University
Minot, ND08-2008
Bachelor of Science - Liberal Arts/Admin Management Studies
Excelsior College
Albany, NY12-2006
Associate of Applied Science - Aviation Maintenance Technology
Community College of The Air Force
Montgomery, AL11-2000
Skills
- Leadership training
- Student and parent relations
- Character building
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Problem-solving abilities
- Community outreach
- Organizational skills
- Critical thinking
Accomplishments
- Planned, organized and executed Sioux City Veterans Day Ceremony for the past 10 years
- Planned, organized and executed 12 Hour Vigil (rendition of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) at the Sioux City Floyd Monument for the past 10 years
- Led efforts for the Cadet Corps to contribute more than 10,000 community service hours and 28,000 Leadership Development hours since 2016
- Magna Cum Laude, Excelsior College
- AFJROTC Instructor of the Year
- Led Minnesota AFJROTC Unit to Distinguished Unit with Merit Award and 3 Distinguished Unit Awards
- Let Iowa AFJROTC Unit to Distinguished Unit with Merit Award 3 times and Distinguished Unit Award 5 times
- Selected as United States Air Force Europe F-15 Aerial Demonstration Team Leader
- United States Air Force Europe Dedicated Crew Chief of the Year
- United States Air Force Effectiveness Award winner
- United States Air Force winner of the Daedalian Maintenance Award
- 87 FIS NCO of the Quarter
- Promoted to Technical Sergeant on the spot
Certification
- AFJROTC Instructor Certification
- Career and Technical Education Teacher, Sioux City Community Schools (2016-present)
- Certificate of Training Noncommissioned Officer Training School
- Certificate of Training Noncommissioned Officer Academy
- Certificate of Training Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy
- Numerous certificates (too many to list) Aircraft Electrical Repairman/Technician Courses
Affiliations
- Coach, Unarmed Regulation Drill Team
- Coach, Armed Regulation Drill Team
- Coach, Color Guard Team
- Coach, Unarmed Exhibition Drill Team
Administrative skills
- Proficient on PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Word
References
References available upon request.
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimePart TimeWork Location
On-SiteRemoteHybridImportant To Me
Company CultureQuote
Never let an opportunity pass you by...jump in, this is when growth happens
Timeline
AFJROTC Senior Instructor (Leadership/Management)
Sioux City Community School District
08.2011 - Current
CEO/Executive Director
Souris Valley Animal Shelter
06.2006 - 06.2009
Command Chief Master Sergeant
United States Air Force
11.2002 - 11.2004
Operational Superintendent Flight Line Operations
United States Air Force
08.1998 - 11.2002
Production Superintendent (Aircraft Maintenance)
United States Air Force
11.1986 - 08.1998
Aircraft Electrical Technician
United States Air Force
11.1975 - 11.1986
Master of Science - Management
Minot State University
Bachelor of Science - Liberal Arts/Admin Management Studies
Excelsior College
Associate of Applied Science - Aviation Maintenance Technology
Community College of The Air Force
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