The Bandera County Republican Women hosted Susan Junker from the American Legion in Bandera as their May guest speaker.
Junker is a retired Army Colonel and currently serves as commander of Post 157. She served in the Army for 25 years, active duty.
BCRW member and Marine Corp veteran Laura Briscoe introduced Junker.
Briscoe stated that she was “very proud to introduce our speaker Colonel Susan Junker.”
Briscoe noted that Junker spent 25 years in the Army and was engaged as a civilian military contractor for 11 years. Briscoe said that Junker was involved in “logistically placing supplies and equipment for the military.”
Junker led a supply battalion of 1,100 personnel who provided logistics for supply, maintenance, medical, distribution and services to 20,000 personnel.
She was responsible for over $100 million in property, $50 million in inventory, and a $1.6 million budget.
“She was the backbone of how our troops moved and how they were supplied,” said Briscoe.
In retirement, Junker has been a member of the Bandera County Historical Commission, chair of the Bandera County Appraisal Review Board, Commander of Post 157 for three years, Bandera County Deputy Voter Registrar, and provides resumé writing and job search skills to veterans.
Junker also mentors students who apply to military academies.
She has also been Vice President for Legislative Affairs for the Bandera County Republican Women.
The title of Junker’s presentation was “Leadership is a Great Four-Letter Word.”
Junker provided 20 four letter words that support leadership. Her first word was “care.”
She emphasized that “care” applied to both the mission outcomes and the people on the team.
She said that “care” requires an action to be effective. Junker related a story where she was concerned for one of her enlisted soldiers who had trouble at his base housing.
She used the “care” principle to help the soldier get on the right track and essentially save his career.
The next word Junker posited was “know.”
She said it was important to “know yourself and what you are passionate about.”
“Work” is another four-letter word Junker said was important in a leadership position.
She said that leaders have to “continuously learn, and apply additional time and effort to thoroughly know your job, business, and people.”
Another important four-letter word according to Junker is “plan.”
To do this a leader must have a solid actionable vision of the outcome and address the resources needed to get it done.
The next two words Junker introduced were “team” and “best.”
She emphasized that the team is looking to you for guidance and to instill a sense of pride at being the “best.” Another critical factor in leadership is “time.”
“Time” is a non-renewable resource and goes hand in hand with the word “plan.” She also stated that “firm” was another four-letter word.
Junker said that a leader must remain “firm” in their convictions.
“Give” is a word that Junker herself subscribes to.
She “gives” of her talents and “time.”
Junker related a story about her run for County Judge in 2022. A community leader asked her why she would “do that to yourself?”
Junker maintains that she gave of her “time” in order to provide “caring” leadership.
Junker finished her presentation with the word “risk.” She said “there is risk in everything we do.”
But Junker maintains that that “risk” can pay off with great rewards.
She told the story of the Legion taking a “risk” by opening their hall to the community during COVID. This resulted in a lot of community goodwill and a $25,000 grant for the group.
In new business, the BCRW tabled approval of the minutes.
President Darcy Hasty encouraged members to keep track of their volunteer hours as the club could be eligible for state-level awards.
She welcomed Bandera County Elections Administrator Andrea Jankoski to the meeting. New members Lisa and Phil Schaffer were also recognized.
Vice President Gwenda Tschirhart reminded the group to send in recipes for the BCRW cookbook fundraiser.
President Hasty also reminded the group of the runoff election for County Sheriff this month on May 28.
Early voting will be from May 20 through May 24.
The meeting adjourned at 6:38 p.m.so that members could attend the National Day of Prayer service on the Courthouse lawn if they chose.
