The Iuka Middle School is honored to welcome as their special speaker at the Veteran’s Day program, on Friday, November 10th, Star Hy, currently the Reserve Component Foreign Area Officer Branch Chief, headquartered in Washington, D.C. She is active in the Army Reserve and at the time the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Hy worked with the State Department and was stationed in the Embassy in Afghanistan when the U.S. Troops withdrew. She was one of the last officers to get out of the county.

Her military service has been rewarding, and exciting and her story will be most interesting for the students and public to hear. The special program honoring all Veterans will be held at 8:30 a.m. on November 10th in the Activities Building and a breakfast for the Veterans will be held following the ceremony.

Star’s mother is the former Star Ann Williams of Iuka, who graduated from the old Iuka High School and has many wonderful memories of the school and her many friends and family in the area. Star Ann (as home folk call her) and her husband Ronn Hy retired several years back and now make their home in Iuka. Star Ann’s sister, Jane Robinson taught several courses, before her retirement, at the Iuka Middle School and is so proud to have her sister back home and to have her niece visit and speak to the students. Everyone is welcome to attend this program, it is open to the public.

We also want to mention that Star’s grandparents are the late Star Mae and Frank Williams of Iuka. Frank was a veteran of World War II and was very active in the Iuka VFW for many years.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas. Lieutenant Colonel Star Hy was commissioned on active duty from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2001 as a Military Policy Officer. Following five years of active-duty service as a Military Police and Adjutant General Corps Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hy recommissioned as a Military Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve in 2012. She currently serves as a Foreign Area Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Hy is a graduate of the Military Police Officer Basic Course, Military Intelligence Captains Career Course, Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, and the Joint Military Attaché School Reserve Support Course.

Lieutenant Colonel Hy’s active-duty assignments were as a platoon leader with the 988th Military Police Company at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 2nd Infantry Division G1 at Camp Red Cloud, Republic of Korea, and company commander of the 2nd Infantry Division Replacement Company at Camp Mobile, Republic of Korea. She deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Her Army Reserve assignments include intelligence officer with the 2200 Military Intelligence Group, operations officer with the 3300 Strategic Intelligence Group, Assistant Army Attaché in Latin America with the Defense Intelligence Agency, and executive officer to the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Army. She is currently the Reserve Component Foreign Area Officer Branch Chief for the Reserve Foreign Area Officer Proponent at Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5/7.

Lieutenant Colonel Hy holds a Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Science degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University, a Master of Science in Management from Troy University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy. Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, as well as multiple campaign and service decorations. She has also been awarded the Basic Parachutist Badge and Army Staff Identification Badge.

A member of the Foreign Service with the Department of State in her civilian capacity, Lieutenant Colonel Hy has been stationed in Washington, DC; Mexico City, Mexico; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Kabul, Afghanistan. She is currently a fellow at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC pursuing a Master of Arts in National Security Studies. Lieutenant Colonel Hy speaks Spanish.