Featured Young Alumni
Emily Chilson '08
Upon graduating from TCU, Emily began serving as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Air Force. Her first duty location was Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina with U.S. Air Forces Central and the 20th Fighter Wing.
Most recently, Emily spent nine months in Afghanistan as a member of Paktika Provincial Reconstruction Team. She deployed to the Regional Command East area of operations in Afghanistan after completing three months of combat skills training alongside 130 fellow PRT members at Camp Atterbury, Ind. In the province of Paktika, 80% of the population face unemployment and 98% are illiterate. In addition to coordinating news releases and media embeds for the PRT, Emily advised the provincial director of information, youth and culture on the employment of media assets to counter Taliban propaganda and improve the transparency of the provincial government. Through the advisory process, Emily worked with the director to open the first government-run radio station in Paktika. Additionally, Emily supported the global efforts for gender equality as a member of the PRT's female engagement team. Using her background in public affairs, Emily assisted in supporting the provincial director of women's affairs, including a women's shura (similar to a town hall meeting), where more than 400 Afghan women gathered for the first time in a decade. The women in Paktika face isolation, malnutrition, disease and often abuse on a daily basis. Emily completed 40 combat missions over the course of the deployment, supporting International Security Assistance Force counterinsurgency ad reconstruction objectives.
Emily recently moved from South Carolina to New Mexico, where she is currently the chief of public affairs for the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base.