Kate Blaine started her military journey by joining BYU’s Army ROTC; however, she later felt inspired to join the Air Force ROTC. Blaine knew the switch would be a big change, but she followed through with her prompting, hoping to understand her path more as she served.
Growing up in Caldwell, Idaho, Blaine often talked about joining the military. Blaine’s parents supported her ambitions, but they also encouraged her to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enlisting.
By the time she returned home from her mission in 2021, Blaine had shifted her focus to nursing, and the thought of joining the military had almost entirely escaped her—until she was taking pre-nursing classes at BYU, working three jobs, and wondering how she’d ever find a balance to it all.
“I remember thinking, ‘The Lord will provide a way,’” Blaine describes. “And in almost that same moment, the military came back to my mind.” She felt as if the best step moving forward would be to combine a nursing degree with military service.
So she enlisted in the Utah National Guard and joined BYU’s Army ROTC program, quickly feeling that it was the right decision. “I loved the people I met in the program, and it was an awesome environment,” Blaine explains.
While Blaine served in the Army ROTC, a friend introduced Blaine to her future husband—who coincidentally was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC. Two months after their wedding, Blaine was scheduled to attend basic combat training (BCT) in South Carolina for the Army National Guard. She believed everything was going well—even better than she’d expected—but the more she studied the scriptures, the more she considered making a change.
“After a lot of prayer, I decided I needed to switch to the Air Force ROTC program so that when my husband and I commission and graduate, it’ll be easier for us to be stationed together,” Blaine explains.
Even with the switch she was preparing to make, Blaine attended BCT and quickly found her footing. “I met a girl there who was super awesome,” Blaine describes. “We had almost parallel stories: She’d just gotten married too, and we both love Taylor Swift, so that was a plus,” she adds smiling. The two became close friends, and together they spent the summer conditioning and learning expeditionary skills. During their daily routines, Blaine’s friend began asking questions about the scriptures Blaine read every morning—which in turn inspired her friend to learn more about the gospel and to eventually join the Church.
When Blaine returned home, she officially joined the Air Force ROTC, complete with different peers, different tasks, and different leaders—she worried that she’d just taken a step backward. But she followed her impression regardless, and between her sophomore and junior years, she participated in Air Force ROTC’s field training.
Field training gathers cadets from all over the country, and getting to know them made Blaine feel much less intimidated. “Being able to interact with other detachments was really awesome,” she explains. “After that, I felt really excited.”
Part of the excitement came as Blaine saw herself frequently using the skills she’d learned in the army. On one occasion, Blaine and her group were placed in a land navigation scenario. Halfway through the practice mission, they were informed that their leader had been wounded. Blaine still recalls what their field training officer said next: “Cadet Blaine, you’re now the leader in charge.”
Blaine felt ready. “Navigation was actually a strength of mine, because I had already done it on the army side quite a bit,” she says. Forced to think on her feet, Blaine assessed the situation: Their communication had been cut, they were running low on time, and, to complete each objective, they would have to enter enemy territory.
She remembers taking a step back, considering each variable, and making the decision to return to headquarters. To Blaine, it was the clearest way to protect the lives at stake in the scenario. “I got a lot of good feedback on that, because we have to look at the whole picture,” she explains.
After completing the air force’s summer training, Blaine also looked at the bigger picture of her own ROTC journey. She discovered that her path, which she once considered inefficient, was instead exactly what she feels she needed.
Blaine credits the Army ROTC for providing her with exposure to teamwork and navigation skills, and she is grateful the Air Force ROTC provided her with a chance to share the gospel with her friend and that it continues to help her grow as a leader while she serves alongside her husband. After graduating and commissioning, Blaine is set to become a licensed nurse, and she plans to serve in the Air Force Medical Service.
Today, Blaine feels grateful she followed the impressions she received to pursue nursing within the military and to join the Army and Air Force ROTC programs. “It was a roundabout way to get there,” Blaine admits. “But I was definitely meant to go on the roundabout path to get where I need to be.”
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Written by Nicholas Day
