USAF Lt Col Jessica Dwyer -Leading AFROTC Cadets and Director of Dept. of Aerospace Studies at SIU

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica Dwyer is the Commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 205 and the Director of the Department of Aerospace Studies at Southern Illinois University. Known as "Hammer" for her no-nonsense approach to enforcing standards in her classrooms and training environments, Lt Col Dwyer earned an undergraduate degree in Physics. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, she obtained a Masters degree in Physics and Astronomy from Dartmouth College and a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from Kansas State University. As an active duty Air Force officer, Lt Col Dwyer has served as a basic research scientist, a faculty member at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in a role supporting the placement of Air Force scientists in mission units, and most currently as the Commander of the AFROTC Detachment 205 at SIU. Jessica was an intercollegiate athlete and captain of the women's soccer team at the University of Mary Washington and resides in southern Illinois with her husband and two daughters.