Women in Leadership: Colonel Rosalie Duarte

RAFB, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Colonel Rosalie Duarte serves as the 78th Air Base Wing vice commander at Robins Air Force Base. Arriving at Robins last June, she is at the service of the Base Wing Commander.

“In a phase, I do what needs done,” said Duarte.

Duarte manages the facilities and equipment support for the base’s 54 Mission Partners. She is also responsible for safety, security, morale and welfare of the 24,000 airmen assigned to Robins, as well as their 28,000 dependents and retires.

“Everything that we do, every action that we take supports people and the national defense strategy,” said Duarte.

This vice commander says she loves to lead, but leading in the United States Air Force almost did not happen for her. After receiving a Masters degree in Health Promotion, Duarte says she went to work in a North Carolina hospital system. She explains that she struggled gaining promotions due to her lack in experience leading other people. Her father and her fiancée (who both served in the U.S. Navy) recommended she join the U.S. Air Force as the best way to gain leadership experience and maintain a decent quality of life.

Colonel Duarte says her plan was to serve four years and then get back to the health field. However her career took a non-traditional route to the top. Along the way, Duarte says leaders who looked like her were few and far between.

“There were pockets of women I could look up to and I could see as role models, but more often than not, I would be the only female leader at a table,” said Duarte.

Being “an only” did not bother Duarte, because of her own sense of self and knowing what she brings to the table.

“I don’t wait to be asked my opinion,” said Duarte. ” If there is something I have a perspective about people need to hear.”

In her 23-year, Air Force career, Duarte says being a woman, born in the Philippines, has not hindered her at all. Since finishing Officer Training School as a Distinguished Graduate, Duarte has commanded three times and has served in several key staff positions at the headquarters level.

Currently at Robins Air Force Base, Duarte oversees the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program. She also leads the Air Force’s only Integrated Resilience and Prevention Office which focuses on mental health and wellness. Plus, she is leading the process of studying diversity, equity and inclusion matters at Robins.