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photo by Cookie Steponaitis

Laura Flint started her stint in the military in New York State’s National Guard in 1997. In 2001 when she moved back to Vermont, Laura joined the Vermont National Guard. The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest-enduring institutions, celebrated its 375th birthday on December 13, 2011 according to nationalguard.mil. Flint was one of the very few women in her unit who served in Kuwait. She was a machine gunner at Camp Victory from November of 2004 to December 2005. There she was part of a 600 person unit of which only ten percent were women. The unit’s main job was to protect Camp Victory. While she was in Kuwait serving her country she met Brian Flint her soon to be husband, who taught her how to use her machine gun and they fell in love. Laura’s husband is still an active military member and is part of a Civil Support Team (CST) in Burlington. Though Laura met some amazing people during the time she served her country the most difficult part of being in Kuwait was being apart from her two young children Aaron and Emma. Aaron had just started first grade and Emma had started kindergarten. It was a sacrifice for certain. Laura served her country and was proud to do so. Laura comes from a long line of service people. Her grandfather was a pilot in World War II and her father was a naval commander. Laura currently is keeping busy being a wife and mother and a proud Middlebury business woman. She owns the Middlebury UPS store and the Middlebury Subway Restaurant. She also owns a UPS store in Rutland. Thank you Laura Flint for serving and protecting our country. We are lucky to have you as a part of our community!