Brinlee's Academic Journey Made Possible Through Air Force Service

Thursday, Nov 11, 2021 • Greg Pederson :

For Natelee Brinlee, guarding missile silos in the midst of a frigid North Dakota winter as a member of the U.S. Air Force was a relative breeze compared to being a full-time college student.

Brinlee, a junior majoring in biology at The University of Texas at Arlington, is an Air Force veteran who enlisted after graduating from high school to help pay for college. She plans to enroll in dental school after earning her bachelor’s degree.

To Brinlee, Veterans Day is about recognizing the sacrifices that veterans make as well as those made by military families. She is grateful for the strong support that UTA gives to veterans and their families. This year UTA was again named in the Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges 2021 list as the nation’s top four-year institution for veterans and their families.

“For me, being a veteran is just about recognizing the sacrifices your brothers and sisters (in the military) have made,” she said. “Veterans Day means more to me as a veteran because I can relate to other veterans. We recognize the sacrifices that we’ve made whether big or small, and the sacrifices made by our families.”

Adjusting from military life to being a full-time student hasn’t been the easiest transition, as Brinlee says she underestimated the commitment and effort required to excel in academics at a four-year university. But she is indeed excelling, carrying a GPA of over 3.0 in a STEM major, which traditionally not a lot of veterans choose to study.

Brinlee grew up in Irving and still has family there. Due to the cost of college she decided to enlist after high school and chose the Air Force. After six months of basic training in San Antonio she was stationed at Minot Air Force Base near Minot, N.D., a small town less than 50 miles from the Canadian border. She was part of the base’s security detail, guarding the nuclear missiles housed in underground silos. For Brinlee, who had never been to the Upper Midwest, it was quite an adjustment – particularly the winters.

“The culture shock was crazy; the Midwest is nothing like D-FW,” she said. “The cold is extreme. There were blizzards where I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I’m used to heatstroke, not frostbite. The coldest I’ve seen was -77 degrees Fahrenheit, and we had to go outside on security duty in that.

“On the positive side, I got to see a lot of beautiful places – Minneapolis, the Badlands in South Dakota, Canada, national parks in Montana – lots of places I never would’ve been able to go to, so I’m grateful for the experience.”

While in the Air Force, she met someone who suggested that she go into the dental field after getting out, and the idea stayed with her. She looked into dental school and set her sights on earning a degree and becoming a dentist after her military service was complete.

After serving 3.5 years at Minot AFB, Brinlee left the Air Force and returned to Irving, where she focused on applying for college. UTA was close to home, and she had friends who had good experiences there, so she enrolled at UTA, where she had initially been accepted out of high school four years earlier. The numerous services offered by UTA to veterans was another influencing factor in her decision.

“I was kind of scared that I was just going to be on my own to figure it all out, so it was nice to see there was a good veterans program here,” she said. “It was nice to have a direct contact to help point me in the right direction.”

She started in fall 2020, during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the challenges of college life even more daunting.

“It was right in the thick of Covid so that was hard,” she said. “It was really difficult to learn organic chemistry by computer. It was a crazy year for everybody. I’ve taken advantage of the resources UTA has; the free tutoring is great, and I love the IDEAS (Innovation, Diversity, Excellence, Access, and Success) Center.”

Brinlee says she will soon begin studying for the Dental Admission Test (DAT); she plans to take the exam next summer or the following winter. Then she wants to complete her undergraduate studies and earn a slot in dental school – Texas A&M College of Dentistry is her dream spot, but she says she’ll be glad just to be accepted somewhere so she can begin the next part of her journey to becoming a dentist.

She is grateful for her experiences in the military and how it enabled her to pursue her goals.

“I appreciate when people thank me for my service, but I chose to serve,” she said. “I didn’t do it for the thanks. Being in the Air Force, I’ve made some of the best friends and best connections. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

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