Meet Shannon HB Doyal, a soon-to-be graduate of Wright State University and member of VMAS. She’s currently earning her B.A. English and Technical Writing from Wright State in 2024. She earned an A.A.S. in Medical Massage Therapy in 2006 from Sinclair College, after becoming an EMT in 2004. In 1994, Shannon joined the United States Air Force working in Security Forces stationed at FE Warren, and then safeguarding nuclear materials at Barksdale. She also worked in Law Enforcement Operations at Barksdale, assisting Confinement, K9, and Investigations when called upon. Shannon is the current President of the Student Veterans Association (SVA) at Wright State and is completing her work-study for the Veteran & Military Center (VMC) on campus. Director of the VMC Dr. Seth Gordon introduced Shannon to VMAS Founder Anthony at an event, sparking interest in becoming a member.
Life After the Military
Who and what Shannon is has been primarily shaped by the military. Her family hails from Roswell, New Mexico, and her father was in basic training when she was born. She joined the Air Force in 1994 but didn't get to travel outside CONUS until after the military in 1998 to start a family. She was fortunate to be able to live two years at Yokota AFB, Japan after that. Currently, Shannon lives in Kettering/Dayton with her 24-year-old daughter.
Shannon is a busy bee. Besides becoming a new member of VMAS, her time is currently split between being a full-time student, work-study for the Veteran & Military Center at WSU, and learning how to train her future service dog through the program "Build a Battle Buddy". Shannon owns a side business called Stone Soup LLC and creates products with either inspirational or dark humor commentary. She also volunteers as a medic for a private campground, with “Project Refit”, helping other veterans with mental health support. Shannon says she’ll soon add an internship to that list.
Member of VMAS
Shannon participates in leadership development through various organizations and has sat on panels discussing what the student veteran experience is to civilians, politicians, and educators. In joining VMAS, she realized she could learn a lot about running an organization and how other groups function.
“Being able to provide skills that are needed (even if it is just printing off flyers at the last minute for communications on campus) can be rewarding in small ways. I am eager to see other opportunities to help others like myself.”
If you are interested in joining VMAS to volunteer with Shannon or need mental health support, please email us at wrightstatevmas@gmail.com