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'First Faces' shines light on Luke AFMS Airman

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Hensley
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  A Luke Air Force Base AFMS Airman has been nominated for the First Faces award, a monthly Air Education and Training Command Chaplain Corps program that honors Airmen who do great work that highlights diversity while doing the mission.

Airman 1st Class Arta Rexhepi, 56th Medical Group public health technician, has overcome tremendous odds to be where she is today. Her story is different from her peers.

Rexhepi was born in the small town of Uglar, Kosovo, located in the central Balkan Peninsula. She lived there until age 4 when her life took a drastic turn.

"She lived in Kosovo until she was forced to leave her home and some of her family to seek refuge in America," said Staff Sgt. Hector Cardona, 56th MDG community health NCO in charge. "Kosovo had a long history of ethnic tensions with orthodox Christian Serbians. This left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in interethnic violence in 1999. Many Albanian men, women, and children died and their bodies tossed into mass graves due to the violence."

Rexhepi's family feared the same fate would happen to them and soon learned the Serbian Army was headed toward their small town. Her family fled to Macedonia, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and the U.S. Air Force loaded her and nine other family members onto a C-5 cargo plane headed to the U.S.

Rexhepi's experiences as a child and knowledge of what is going on in the world today have been a huge influence on her seeking an education in premedicine biology.

"I hope to become a general surgeon," Rexhepi said. "Having completed my career development courses in only two months my goal now is to get senior airman below-the-zone."

Now that Rexhepi has completed her CDC requirements, she is on the way to pursue her lifelong dream. She plans to commission and eventually retire from the Air Force.

From the moment she arrived at Luke Air Force Base, Rexhepi has been working hard on job training. She seeks volunteer opportunities in the community and takes part in the 56th MDG Rising IV, which is a leader-mentorship program. She also volunteered for the Retiree Appreciation Day event, educating more than 1,000 Luke beneficiaries.

"She is very goal oriented," Cardona said. "I see her going on to finish school and becoming a doctor on the outside or a general surgeon in the Air Force."

She is forever thankful and has the utmost gratitude to the Air Force for saving her and her family from what could have been a tragic fate, she said.