Karen McKay (b. 1941), of Crete, Nebraska, served as a public information officer in the Adjutant General's Corps in the United States Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1967-1970 and the Army Reserve from 1970-1994. Karen McKay was born 8 June 1941 in Nebraska, and moved to California at the age of six when her mother married a United States Marine Corps drill instructor. After graduating from high school, McKay spent the summer on the rodeo circuit, riding bulls and doing calf-tying, before starting college at California State University. She graduated in 1964 with a degree in agriculture. McKay worked as a reporter for a year, covering local stories for the Tuolumne Gazette, and then took a position as a full time substitute teacher in Tuolumne County, California. After a few years, McKay decided to join the United States Army. She received a direct commission, and in January 1967, was sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama, for Officer Basic Course. In 1968, McKay went to Fort Benning, Georgia, and began working in Central Troop Command, where her duties included being athletic officer and reproduction (photocopy) officer. She eventually became public information officer (PIO), which enabled her to participate in and document an Escape and Evasion exercise. In 1970, due to a United States Army Reduction in Force (RIF), McKay left active duty service, but remained a part of the reserve. She volunteered for Special Forces, became adjutant for C Company, 11th Group, and began a 3 month tour of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. She soon met a Greek-American army reserve officer, who was also serving a tour of the Pentagon. They married and moved to Athens, Greece. While in Greece, McKay remained part of the reserves, traveling to Germany for training and REFORGER exercises. During these exercise, McKay acted as the public affairs officer (PAO) and civil military liaison. From 1975 or 1976 to 1979, McKay worked as a freelance journalist in Israel, covering the Sinai Peninsula and the war in Lebanon. While there she was recruited to be a member of President Ronald Reagan's transition team, and returned to the United States in late December 1979. After realizing the position would be unpaid, McKay found a job as a reporter with Army Times, but that lasted only a few months. In 1981, McKay was tasked by several prominent Washington D.C. generals with creating an organization to support the Afghan freedom fighters against the Soviets who had invaded Afghanistan. This organization would eventually be called the Committee for a Free Afghanistan. In 1984, while a member of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command, located in Riverdale, Maryland, McKay began Airborne School at Fort Lee, Virginia. While training to earn her wings as a paratrooper, McKay landed improperly on one of her last jumps and shattered her pelvis into five pieces. She spent the next sixteen months recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. In 1985 McKay returned to active duty at Fort Bragg. She later went back into the reserves until she left in 1994.
