Niddavanh "Niddie" Miyo was born in 1980 in Laos. After the Laotian Civil War, Miyo's family fled to Thailand, then the Philippines, before arriving in the United States. They eventually settled in Fresno, California, where they had family who had immigrated to the U.S. a few years before. In 1995, Miyo and her family relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina. She graduated from Smith High School in 1998 and began attending Guilford Technical Community College on a Biology scholarship. After a year, Miyo decided to relinquish her scholarship and transferred to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, but after a year there, due to personal issues, Miyo returned to Greensboro. She began attending North Carolina A&T University but had to leave her studies, once again, when she became pregnant. Miyo gave birth to a daughter in December 2003. After the birth of her daughter, Miyo began engaging with her community by volunteering with the Heart-to-Heart program, as well as the Center for New North Carolinians. Although she had been considering joining the United States Navy for some time, the volunteer work Miyo was doing solidified her decision, and in 2007, Miyo signed an eight-year contract with the United States Navy Reserve, and assigned as a Seabee; the U.S. Navy's construction force. In late-Winter 2007, Miyo was sent to Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, Illinois, for two months of boot camp. She was then sent to Accession Training, commonly referred to as A School, at Naval Construction Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi, for an additional two months, where she was taught the basic principles of construction. Although faced with many physical challenges, Miyo graduated third in her class. Even though she was living in Greensboro, N.C. at the time of her A School graduation, Miyo was assigned to a navy reserve unit in Raleigh, N.C., about an hour away. In a twist of fate, Miyo was contacted by a navy recruiter based in Greensboro. When informed that she was already enlisted and assigned to a reserve center in Raleigh, the recruiter facilitated a transfer for Miyo to the Navy Operational Support Center in Greensboro, where she took up her reserve duty. During this time, Miyo's Seabee unit participated in Field Training Exercises at various U.S. military installations, including Fort Hunter Liggett and Camp Pendleton, both in California, where they were taught the skills needed for overseas deployment. In 2009, Miyo learned she would be deploying overseas. In preparation, she participated in many physical trainings, as well as language education, and eventually deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, and assigned to work with Special Forces. After about six months, Miyo returned to Greensboro, N.C. Due to the global recession at the time, Miyo was unable to find employment, so she decided to open a hair salon; something she had had a passion for before the military. Eventually, due to her military obligations, Miyo was forced to close her business. In 2012, Miyo met her future husband, an active-duty marine stationed in Greensboro, and they began dating. Miyo decided to relocate to Washington, D.C. for better employment. After a few months, she found out she had been selected to deploy to Afghanistan. Although she was using her time back in the U.S. to recuperate, mentally and emotionally, Miyo felt it was her duty to deploy with the rest of her unit. She relocated back to Greensboro and was then sent with her unit to Fort Hueneme, California, for pre-deployment preparation. From California, Miyo flew to Afghanistan, and was assigned to Regional Command (South) [RC-S] Headquarters in Kandahar, where she was primarily tasked with administrative duties, seven days a week. By 2014, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] and Afghan forces came to an agreement on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan by a specific date. Not being able to stay on base or in-country any longer, Miyo was sent back to California, where she performed administrative duties. Miyo returned to Greensboro. She left the U.S. Navy Reserve in November 2014 and spent the next few years taking time to heal, again, both mentally and emotionally; taking care of her daughter; and finishing her Associate of Arts degree. In December 2015, she and her husband married. In Summer 2016, using her GI Bill, Miyo began a four-year Business program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She graduated in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree, a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree, and a Minor degree in Information Technology.
