30 Days of Pride!

Colonel Ginger Wallace joined the military in 1990 as a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. She has served more than two decades as an intelligence officer and is currently deployed to Afghanistan, participating in an initiative called the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands Program, which supports Operation Enduring Freedom by ensuring the U.S. achieves its government objectives in the South Asian region. 

Wallace was promoted to Colonel in late 2011 following the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Her partner, Kathy Knopf, attended the Colonel’s “pinning-on” promotion ceremony, where family members - many times the spouse of the service member - “pin-on” the new rank. This was the first reported instance of a same-sex spouse participating in a ceremony like this.

In January, Wallace and Knopf were invited to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address as a guest of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, representing a new era of open service and the real commitments gay and lesbian service members make – many times while in committed relationships.

Wallace is also a member of Blue Alliance, the Air Force Academy’s LGBT alumni group. To find out more about Blue Alliance, click here.

Col Wallace and Kathy are not only examples of the commitments and sacrifices LGBT military families make, but also of the resiliency many service members have shown as they and their families endured the discriminatory DADT policy. They reside in Virginia.