Lt. Col. Brie Vihlen trains students to be leaders
Carolina’s Air Force ROTC detachment commander will retire after 22 years in the military and many tours of duty.
Lt. Col. Brie Vihlen’s role as commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 590 at UNC-Chapel Hill brought her career full circle.
Vihlen began her military service in 1998 in the Air Force ROTC at the University of Virginia, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical/space engineering. Next August, the professor and chair of the aerospace studies department in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences will retire from the Air Force after leading the Air Force ROTC at Carolina since 2022.
Growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia, Vihlen enjoyed hearing the stories her maternal grandfather shared about his career as an Air Force officer. Her father took her for flights when she was a teenager, and she fell in love with flying. At 16, she started her first job as a receptionist at a flight school, earning money to put toward flying lessons.
Vihlen said that the Air Force seemed like the right career path, so she joined the ROTC at UVA.
“I was surrounded by good, like-minded people who shared my goals of serving our country and flying and were committed to leading lives of integrity,” she said. “Having grown up in this country where we have tremendous freedom, I loved the idea that I was going to be able to give back to help preserve the way of life that I grew up with.”
While she enjoyed her student ROTC experience, Vihlen admitted that she found it challenging.
“I struggled, and my time management wasn’t great,” she said. “But by the time I graduated, I learned how to prioritize and to succeed, with the support of some upperclassmen who mentored me and some active-duty cadre members who believed in me.”
Vihlen brought that experience to her role at Carolina.
“I know how much pressure these cadets are under and that even the good ones are going to struggle sometimes with classes and family commitments,” said Vihlen. “I believe in them the way that my cadre staff believed in me.”
The cadre staff within Carolina’s aerospace studies department consists of four active-duty Air Force members, including Vihlen.
“We help them figure out what Air Force career field they’re interested in and suited for,” she said. “We find mentors for them in those fields so they can make an informed decision. We get them across the finish line to commission when they graduate.”
Vihlen said that one of the most important aspects of her job is taking college students and turning them into leaders.
“If they don’t lead the military, they are going to be leaders in their communities, as business owners, CEOs, politicians, president of their kid’s PTA,” she said. “All of those require leadership skills, and we teach them the foundations of those skills.”
Vihlen has used her leadership skills in a wide variety of assignments during her Air Force career. She had four combat tours in Afghanistan and served for three years as an exchange officer in an active United Kingdom Royal Air Force squadron.
The cadets are the best part of Vihlen’s current assignment at UNC.
“If you spend five minutes with these cadets — or probably any student at Carolina — you immediately realize how intelligent and hardworking they are,” she said. “Knowing that our country and our Air Force are in really good hands with these young men and women and that I played a small part in getting them to where they are is very rewarding.”
