Tiffiny Mallett-Daniel, Air Force Veteran

After high school, Tiffiny Mallett-Daniel knew she wasn’t quite ready for college. Coming from a military family, she also knew entering the military was a good option, one that would help provide funding for her college later.

“I joined the Air Force because I knew that no matter how I served, I could make a difference,” said Mallett-Daniel.

During her enlistment, she was assigned to the air crew life support team where she was responsible for checking all the life support equipment on the planes. Throughout her Air Force career, Mallett-Daniel worked to ensure all life-saving equipment was in perfect working order, allowing her crews to always be protected.

After becoming pregnant toward the end of her initial enlistment period, Mallett-Daniel decided not to reenlist, but the idea of transitioning back to civilian life was daunting.

“My biggest fear leaving the military was ensuring I would be able to provide for my family. Would I be able to provide food, clothing, insurance and shelter for my daughter? That had all been provided in the Air Force.”

Once her decision to leave was made, Mallett-Daniel decided to go back to AMR where she’d worked previously and started working in the billing department. Then, in 2005, she transitioned to the communications department and began answering 911 calls and dispatching units.

“Every call was different,” Mallett-Daniel explains, “This is what I found so interesting about working in the communications department.”

While working full-time at AMR, Mallett-Daniel was also raising her daughter and going to school to earn her bachelor’s degree in Emergency Medical Services and a master’s in health services administration. She also attended Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) basic school and completed the paramedic program “just to know what they did on the streets.”

“But I have no desire to be on the streets,” she says with a big smile. “My home is definitely in communications. But the streets and communications all tie into one common goal of helping patients.”

Mallett-Daniel later became a level three communications supervisor followed by an operations supervisor where she controlled trucks and units, and oversaw EMTs and paramedics. She then went back to where she started, and to where her love is, communications, where she serves as communications manager.

“In communication centers, each person is the voice with no face. So, we consider ourselves thefirst, first responders. We are the very first person to impact someone’s life,” she said. “There are going to be situations that touch you at the heart. But you also must remember that you are the person to help and not the person to cry with them.”

“At the end of the day, it’s the same goal. In the military we fought for our country and helped people. I’ve transitioned to AMR where I still help the people in our country every day. My experience in the military, along with my education allows me to do exactly what I love to do. It allows me to show my genuine love for people.”