A Kid's Milestone

Kids. We love em, no matter what. We think ours are the smartest, best looking, fastest, strongest, most talented - all of that or some important part of it. Most of us anyway.

I’m no different, and I’ve written about each of them before in this blog. Heather’s been to Hollywood to Chicago, and now in law school. Ashley has been from Drake to Chicago – to music and letters – by way of Korea.

This blog entry is about Courtney, though. Courtney Aimee (Kjos) Short was promoted to Major, United States Army, at West Point, New York on January 9, 2009. Courtney was born in Madison, Minnesota, June 16, 1977. She graduated from Eagan High School in Eagan Minnesota. She shares with her siblings a talent for, and love of, music and acting. In addition to school productions, choir, and declaim, credits include Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater, Actor’s Theater of St. Paul, and a role in the movie Rachel River with Craig T. Nelson and Pamela Reed.

Courtney set her sights on the big city even before she was a teen, then made it happen, earning a degree from Columbia University, while enrolled in ROTC at Fordham University. Her persistence was tested by hours of commuting between the Upper West Side and the Bronx.

Commissioned in Air Defense Artillery in May 1999, she served in Korea, and then at Ft. Bliss, Texas, where she earned a Master’s degree in Management from Webster University while completing a range of command and staff assignments.While at Bliss she was offered the opportunity to compete for appointment to the faculty in the Department of History at the US Military Academy, accepted, and upon selection earned her Master’s in History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

In 2004 she married Captain David Short, now also at West Point, Executive Officer of the Center for Enhanced Performance (and also pending promotion to Major). Courtney is expecting the couple’s first child in the fall.

The following is from the USMA faculty bio

Schools and Degrees

B.A., Barnard College, Columbia University, 1999

M.A., Webster University, 2005

M.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008 (ABD)

Disciplines

Military History

American History

Modern Japanese History

Specialties

World War II Pacific

Race Theory

Research Interests

Wartime Occupation of Okinawa

Okinawa Cultural History

Courses Taught

HI 301: History of the Military Art

HI 302: History of the Military Art

Cadet Academic Counselor

Branch

Air Defense Artillery (Patriot Missile)

Duty Assignments

- Fire Control Platoon Leader, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Suwon Air Base, South Korea

- Battery Executive Officer, Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas

- Assistant Battalion S-3, 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas

- Assistant Brigade S-4, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas

- Battalion S-1, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas

- Battery Commander, Alpha Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas

- Small Group Instructor, Officer Basic Course, Directorate of Training and Leadership Development, 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas