Prior Lake native hired at the Pentagon

Prior Lake American

Pamela Powers has been all over since she graduated from Prior Lake High School in 1985. After attending the Air Force Academy in Colorado, Powers has been stationed in Arizona, Delaware, Kuwait, Pennsylvania and more.

Now, Powers will have a more permanent home due to her civilian position with the Pentagon as the chief of staff for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. She started the job on Feb. 5 and retired from the Air Force as a reserve colonel on March 1.

“I’m now the political appointee for the Trump administration,” Powers said. “It’s one I had to be nominated for and vetted for.”

Powers’ father, Prior Lake resident Pat Klein, said Powers “fell in love” with the Air Force Academy after a visit to his brother who was stationed there.

“That started the process and got her interested,” Klein said. “She was the middle child and the third .... you had to be pretty aggressive to get attention and she was always a leader. She is a leader in a very quiet way ... she gets a lot accomplished with persuasion rather than noise.”

After graduation from the Air Force Academy in 1989 with a bachelor’s of science degree in organizational psychology, Powers climbed the ranks and held a variety of positions in the Air Force — she was promoted to captain in 1993, major in 2002, lieutenant colonel in 2007 and colonel in 2012. Powers also received a master’s of arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix in 1996. In 2011, Powers received a master’s of strategic studies from the Army War College.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of my career,” Powers said. “Now, I get the opportunity to continue serving on the civilian side as part of the Trump’s administration team as part of the defense team.”

Powers, who has worked at the Pentagon intermittently in her Air Force career, oversees a staff of 3,000. Her position includes a lot of oversight regarding personnel and human resources, but also managing medical facilities and creating policies for the Department of Defense.

Powers said this means she’s often working on policies that are front-page, national news, such as the transgender military ban or a blended retirement system for military veterans.

“It’s a pretty large organization, a lot of oversight responsibilities,” Powers said.

Powers has been recognized for her time in the military with multiple medals and honors, including a Joint Service Commendation Medal, an Air Force Commendation Medal, an Air Force Achievement Medal, an Air Force Organizational Excellence Award and more.

“I think both (careers) just gave me the opportunity to serve this country,” Powers said. “It allowed me opportunities to be a part of really amazing things. I got to see ... all the amazing professionals we have serving in our military. It’s been an amazing experience working with them.”